Arc: Convergence Arcanum
by Aeos React
Summary: You have heard all of this before I bet, RWBY and others get whisked away to a theater of sorts, all to see the actions of one of their own or others, with some focusing on the male blonde known as J u0w -r5. Huh, odd, it appears their is something a bit odd surrounding his existence here, so what say you, shall we along with RWBY and others what may have happened regarding c?
1. Chapter 1

RWBY inspired story, OC's, altered characters, different stories, diverged plot, etc.

Jaune Arc as MC …. In a way, my own possibly twisted way(s), multiple MC's, angst, tragedy, sci-fi, new ideas (I hope), and more …

Multi X-over

This suddenly came to me, organizing it into something clear was a nightmare.

Arc: Convergence Arcanum

Prologue-

Jaune Arc, coward, liar, inept, and unsure of himself, yet at the same time brave, honest, quick-witted, intelligent and quite kind if given the chance.

In the aspect that is known, he lied his way into a chance at greatness, was easily discovered and forgiven, gained great friends, becoming close to a girl he considered to far out of reach for someone like him, then saw the life of relative peace he had fall apart, lost the girl he realized he loved in a horrible way, yet rose up to achieve greatness, gaining the strength to stand against the darkness that threatened everything he and everyone around him knew, and followed everyone through to victory gaining the dream he had held for so long.

However, this reality was but one facet of his existence, what if events progressed differently, what if things had been different, certain people reacting differently, events transpiring in a different way, and other such alterations, either through circumstance, reality, or some outside force.

What then …

* * *

"Uhh.." stated the voice of a young girl as she slowly got up from the floor, and then started to gaze around the space she inhabited, finding herself in an expansive corridor, lined with what looked to be a mix of intricate and very well sculpted pillars of some sort of mineral that resembled a dark marble or light obsidian, and walls made of a very advanced and sophisticated metal that seemed to flow with a strange and almost aetheric energy.

The girl herself got up and looked around at where she woke up and then noticed that she was surrounded by three other girls, girls she happened to know quite well.

"Yang, Blake, Wiess," she said as she looked at the three, her voice a little over a whisper as she looked at them, hoping they were okay.

The three stirred at her voice, and soon they began to awaken.

"H-Huh, uwwhat, Ruby, what's going on," Yang said as she rubbed the exhaustion out of her eyes, and stretched a bit, the action being closely observed by the sharper eyed of the four.

"Y-yeah, Ruby what's … going on," the second girl, Blake who still had a slight blush from seeing Yang stretch herself (and making more noticeable one of her more eye-catching features), looked around to see that they were in a different place altogether.

"Ruby, where are we, what happened," the last girl Wiess said as she gazed around at the hallway they were in, while also trying to remember how they got there.

The first girl, now identified as Ruby, also tried to think about how they had gotten he-!

Ruby gripped her head as she began to see images of her life, where she had been and other such things.

"We were … at Beacon 'guh', we decided to go looking for someone, we were walking somewh-wh-wh-whegyaaaa!"

Ruby felt as a splitting headache erupted through her skull and curled up on the floor holding her head as she desperately tried to remember what she was trying to remember.

Normally Weiss, Blake and obviously Yang, would immediately had gone to Ruby's side to see if she was okay given what was happening …

… were it not for the fact that they were also on the ground, with brain splitting headaches of their own, as their attempt to recall something, anything from what had happened before they awoke here, yet their attempts to remember instead ended in mind-searing pain as they felt their heads were splitting apart.

They gave up after that but still felt what they should be remembering is something of great importance to them, but they shelved that thought for now.

"So, Rubes, any idea where we are," Yang said as she looked around the large open hallway, they found themselves in, watching as the lines of energy flowed through the floor and into other halls, "is this somewhere in Atlas."

"No Yang, this is not Atlas," Wiess spoke as she got up from the honestly very pristine floor, seeing how the light illuminated the hall, doing so in such a way that there was little in the way of shadows throughout the whole hall, "this place, I have seen a lot of some of Atlas's best technology, and some of the finest architecture that was created in Atlas, but even I have to admit that this place is … unique."

Blake looked around at the rest of the hall, seeing the pillars as they pulsed with energy, travelling from the floor to the ceiling, and from ceiling to floor, then she heard something from the edge of her hearing, "Hey, everyone, I hear something down that hall," Blake got everyone's attention as she pointed to one of the hallways up ahead.

No sooner did she do so when the heard a soft dull thrum of something going down the hall up ahead, with the source soon coming into view.

A sphere of pale light-grey light, that seemed to be housed in three rotating rings of a silver-blue metal floated into view, coming from one of the hallways.

The four girls could only blink in confusion as the sphere slows down, seeming to acknowledge their presence by lightly blinking itself four times, then it slowly continued its way, the wall opening to reveal another pass-!

No, the wall and the material behind the wall began to instead reorient itself into a new passage altogether, the path becoming a straight even hallway with little else in the hallway beyond the flowing line of energy running along the wall.

"Whoa," Yang said, stunned at what she saw, as well as how silent it all was as it happened, "We are definitely not on Remnant anymore."

The other three were still visibly stunned, having nothing to say to refute her words, with Blake honestly worried inside about where they were, Wiess who was equal parts worried but also intrigued at the technology that was used for such a feat, while Ruby herself was also both worried and intrigued though in a way that diverged from Wiess.

"_If I had something like that, imagine what I could do for my baby," _this train of thought was followed by Ruby imagining herself in the middle of a pack of Beowolve's, with all of them charging at once only for her to hold out a hand, and in an instant have shards of metal slice those Grimm to pieces before forming in her outstretched hand as a beautiful more futuristic version of her beloved weapon.

Yang for her part just looked nervous at Ruby as she saw the look that Ruby gained when she was ready to do something weapon-related, which tended to result in her doing something crazy, insane, or both to someone's weapon.

The less said about how Ruby tried to combine Myrtenaster's dust cartridge function to Ember Celica, the better it would be overall, the chewing out Wiess gave Ruby over disassembling her weapon had been something to remember.

The four just followed the light through the forming tunnel as it continues onto its destination, wherever that was, until the path opened to a large entryway that led to outside wherever they were.

They froze rock solid, eyes taking in the sight before them, they themselves raising their hands to pinch themselves to make sure they were not dreaming what they were seeing, and they were not believing what they were seeing.

"**WHAT**…" Red

"…**IN**…" White

"…**THE**…" Black

"…**WORLD!**" Yellow

The sight they gazed at was beyond what they were prepared to see, as before them was …

… a city on a city …

… a sci-fi space colony …

… something that only an alien super-civilization could make.

They stood on a large open area about the size of the Beacon Academy school ground with several pillars that seemed to have floating parts around the main pillar, each having a holographic display coming from it, displaying information the seemed to display information for … something, a direction, an ad, some sort of news?

Of course, this was ignored by what they saw, the view of a vast city, no vast was to small of a word to describe what they saw and was also far to hollow and vague to describe everything about the city.

"Thi-thi-this whole city, is built around a city, on top of a city, all around a city, and I can see outer space through spaces at the edge of this city," Ruby exclaimed as she gazed out further into the ever expanding super structure city, that she thought only existed in sci-fi films/books/comics/etc.

"There's so many buildings, and they all look so different, so advanced, almost alien, look at that one," Blake stated as she pointed to a building … that was floating with sections detached from one other, the building being a sleek high rise tower made of a cobalt-silver looking metal, the building having an almost geometric shape to it, incorporating a square, two triangles, a rhombus, and an octagon structure at the top, all parts having flowing veins of energy running through the structure and somehow keeping the building up. A quick look around and the members of team ruby saw many other buildings like or of similar layout to the first, though some seemed to have branches of some sort of grey-white crystalline material supporting them, with many of the buildings being massive in scale.

"Guys, are you seeing what I'm seeing, because I am seeing a city on top of a city, that's on top of another city," Yang pointed out to what she thought was a particularly massive tower, but was in fact a megastructure of a city built on top of another city, with large pillar-like structure, and the taller building supporting the weight of the city built atop it, and a third city atop the second, that had smaller buildings at the top, but had what could only be a very large park with a small forest in it.

"…"

When team RWBY didn't hear anything from their W, they all turned to wonder what happened …

… and found Wiess Schnee standing complete statue still, the light in her eyes dimmed, and completely unconscious.

"Helllllooooooo, Wiessssss," Yang waved her hand in front of the catatonic girl, but no response, "yep, she's out of it."

"Well, we can't really leave her like this," Blake said from the side as she approached the frozen girl, then leaned next to her and whispered something in her ear.

In an instant, Wiess went from catatonic to livid as she glared death at Ruby screaming, "RUBY, YOU BETTER NOT HAVE TOUCHED MYRTENASTER, I STILL HAVE NOT FORGIVEN YOU FOR LAST TIME!", screamed out a very irate Wiess.

"H-hey, it was an honest mistake, I just thought it'd be cooler i-," then Ruby trailed off as she realized something, "Wiess, where is myrtenaster?"

Wiess was about to say that it was where she always holstered it, only to fall silent as she realized that her rapier was not where it was supposed to be, and that was not all.

"Wait, where's Crescent Rose," Roby stated as her precious was missing from her person.

"My weapons gone to," Blake stated in worry as she looked to see Gambol Shroud missing as well.

"Who took my weapons," Yang stated as she looked around for her weapons, Ember Celica, which were no longer on her hands.

CLICK

They all heard a sort of clicking noise and turned to see where the sound came from.

They had to do a double take to make sure their eyes were working right.

Because what they saw was what seemed to be some sort of, robot-girl-plane thing, floating near them, wings on her back with an engine on the center of her back, the legs ending in a sort of engine module allowing the robot girl to remain balanced in the air, and holding out an arm that was aiming what seemed to be some sort of unknown weapon, which seemed to be two long thin panels that were parallel to one another, ending in some sort of gun stock-like configuration that was merged to the robot-girls right arm.

"Uh", Ruby started to say …

VWWWOOOOOSSSSHHHHH, VWOOM, VWOOM, VWOOM

Then from beneath where they were standing, half a dozen of the same robot-girls of the same type came up, all aiming weapons similar to or different from the first girls weapon, some with both arms with the same weapon, some with very large rifles, others with what appeared to be rocket launchers, with others having weapons on their wings, either being some sort of gun or pod, or, well, missiles.

Then something else came up that all but erased whatever thoughts the four were having, as they could only stare as what appeared to be a massive airship with the appearance of two massive wings merged to a large robotic construct, multiple propeller like engines on the wings, and from beneath were multiple containers connected to the main structure beneath the wings, ten in total, out of which flew more of the robot girls, and the center portion which was the robotic portion had a large center area that was several large components connected to the sizeable center portion located just behind the nose of the ship, with the structure ending as two long pylons that seemed to be either landing struts or legs.

Then the whole airship began to turn to them, lowering itself and getting closer to where the four girls stood, the robot girls also following close to the airship, with some flying to the platform, taking up position around team RWBY.

The team became tense as they were surrounded by the flying armed robot-girls, and they would have started to try and prepare for a fight, except they realized they had no weapons with which to fight with, and they were entirely at the mercy of the machine girls, though their attention was on the biggest threat, the airship, which finished its rotation and now faced them, the size of the large ship putting into perspective how out their depth they were.

Then the ship stopped moving as it was now parked nose first at the platform, the four able to see a bit of the top and saw the multitudes of gun turrets and missile launch ports on the top of the ship, and then.

CLACK, VRRRRMMMM

An area above the nose of the ship suddenly began to open, revealing what appeared to be a large hallway leading deep into the ship, and then they heard and saw as something came out of the hall and to them, revealing a sort of large mechanical construct that to the four, bore a slight resemblance to a brain, only mechanical and with many machine components jutting out of it, and also that the front was open revealing a hollowed out area …

… and inside they saw another robot-girl, only without the wings and engines and weapons, but was instead hooked directly into the brain-like structure, with metal wires running from the center of the back into the machine brain, and her legs ending in the form of what would be low heeled women's boots, with the tips pointed and had a metal frame around them, but were in fact the robot girls feet, having been built that way obviously.

The girl jumped out of the brain, wires trailing behind her as she jumped to the ground, landing directly in front of Ruby herself.

The girl was roughly the same height as Ruby, give or take a few inches shorter, but she looked Ruby square in the face, eyes glowing neon green in color as she stared into the silver-eyes of the young girl, then looked over to Yang who was wondering when she would have to move to defend one of her friends and/or sister, or attack the robots, then to Wiess who was trying to figure a way out of their situation, knowing that using her semblance could cause the robots to attack them, and finally to Blake, who was nervously looking around, not seeing a way out of this.

Then the girl, in a rapid motion, raised her hand and swiped it to her side, and all the robot girls lowered their weapons as the team could only look on, having felt a rising panic from the gesture that was now slowly going down as the robots lowered their weapons and were now in a neutral stance, noticing the eyes of the robots glow a soft grey as they began to move back to the ship, a few still hovering around the team.

Then from behind the main robot, the platform began to reconstruct itself, forming a ramp that lead from the ground behind the robot girl, back up to the opening where it had emerged and where the brain was, it then spoke to the team.

"You wish to know," the robot girl spoke in a soft yet firm voice to the team who looked at her as she stood in front of them, "you wish to ascertain why you were brought to this place, why it was you, but as to why you are without your armaments, I would say that it was a formality that we do not wish for conflict and that most who come armed tend to make incredibly rash decisions when armed and nervous, though in this case, it was because the means we used to bring you all here were quite limited in comparison, limited in that we could only bring you yourselves and that which was close to your physical forms, such as your clothing, while yours weapons, even those that were close to you are much more difficult," the girl stated looking at Yang who knew she spoke of Ember Celica, which were heavy bracers on her arms in their inactive form, though she only looked at the girl instead of talk, which the others thought was strange of her since she was known for her boisterous behavior.

"The means to bring one through dimensional boundaries to a different reality is incredible complex and intricate, even by the standards of machine intelligences, such as ourselves," the girl directed them to the other machine girls, all of whom looked at them, with some looking at them from the Airships connected bays and from where they were, "the difficulty of bringing non-living material through the boundary was something that has yet to be truly thought through, with only a few such constructed or artificial means able to make the transit, and you should count yourselves truly fortunate that it was mastered to this current level."

The four looked at the machine girl, with more of a questioning gaze then anything else, wondering what the girl meant, "W-what do you mean when you said we were 'truly fortunate'," Ruby questioned?

"Originally only small objects or material could be safely passed through via the system, though only after a sizeable battery of tests and trials, while larger objects, such as living creatures, would either be completely rendered into a viscous meaty putty of their constituent material components, completely atomized leaving only an ashy residue, or completely annihilated from reality itself and cease to exist," the girl said, incredibly nervous at suffering such horrifying fates, with the girl still continuing on, "though after further trial and error tests, as well as much darker trials that we believe you do not wish to know about, we brought it to a level where living beings could be safely passed through, though it was only recently that updates allowed for your level of transit."

This confused them and raised a question, this time Yang spoke, "Whaddya mean by that, what the heck happened before we came through," she stated, stepping up to the robot-girl, a questioning gaze on her face.

"Originally, the transit would safely bring a living being through, though the tests were mainly implemented on non-sapient creatures, such as insects, birds, reptiles and lesser mammalian life, not discounting other forms of non-sapient life from other areas you likely have no knowledge of or ever heard about," the robot girl stated to them before ending, "however, when tests with sapient life-forms was done, it was found that while they emerged fine, a certain problem came about, that while not an issue for non-sapients, was an issue for sapients, and thus had to be rectified."

The four were about to think about what it was when the girl told them anyway.

"Clothing," she stated.

Then as the answer began to sink in, did the members of team Ruby suddenly start to sport rather noticeable blushes on their faces as their minds formed the final image, and they were now blushing hard realizing that they could have woken without an article of clothing on their bodies.

"I believe that you are aware of the issue now, so I would like to apologize that your armaments were not able to make the journey with you, but that is unlikely to be rectified in the future as the Architect does not take well to armed threats appearing within it, as a few occasions have led to some violent altercations," the girl continued, and then said, "Architect happens to be the designation of the superstructure that houses all you see, in fact this is one of the administrative portions of the Architect, which is housed in its own region of the structure, other areas are located farther into the Architect, though that shall be for much later, for now we must see to the current task."

Then the machine turned to them, "the reason for your current presence, awaits there," the machine then pointing to what seemed to be a large gateway located at the very edge of the mega city, and the girl then began making her way up the ramp and turned to team RWBY as she was only halfway up, "come along, I have been ordered to take you to the destination, post haste, and if you are wondering, while this craft is largely Autonomous, it does have an area for crew or passengers when needed, which should be quite to your liking," the robot girl said as she continued on up the ramp, team RWBY following behind, wondering what it looked like inside the ship.

The robot girl reached the brain, hopping back in, team RWBY following close behind as they entered the ship, the 'brain' sliding back into the ship from its place, with the team following it close behind, until the brain reached a large central chamber, which had ample space for the 'brain' and the team to fit.

Then a side door opened, allowing the team to enter what was basically a rest area, with several couches, an sort of vending machine with several pre-prepared food items inside, a viewing deck that opened up to show the view outside the ship, showing the city passing beneath as they made their way through the superstructure.

"Its almost time," the robot operator of the ship said, and as they were about to ask what it meant, it began to brighten up outside, the team having arrived seeing the city in a nigh-like state, with the stars showing through gaps in the city, and seeing the sheer size of city being larger than anything they had seen made them think they were on some sort of mega-space station like in science-fiction, then as the light spread, the team had to look away a bit to keep from being blinded, then it stopped and they were able to see.

"**OH"**, spoke Ruby, her eyes completely wide as she looked in every direction she could see, unable to comprehend the sight she bore witness to.

"**MY"**, Blake stated, here sense of caution and apprehension about their current situation practically wiped away as she saw a sight she could not even begin to comprehend.

"**GODS"**, Yang said in complete shock and awe at the sight that she could not even begin to comprehend what she was looking at.

**-THUD-**

The three turned to see Wiess passed out on the floor, her eyes now white as her pupils had rolled back into here head, as she lay sprawled out on the ground, her body twitching from the shock of seeing what she had seen.

"Wiess," Ruby shrieked as she saw her teammate and friend completely passed out, helping her comatose body up, "Wiess, speak to me, say something, anything, just let me know you're okay!"

"UUUGGGGHHHHH," was the only thing that came out of her mouth, and a line of drool, which made a certain blonde wish she still had her scroll to get a picture, as she hardly ever saw scenes such as this with the heiress.

"Good, she's okay, but what is all of," Ruby gestured to what she was seeing outside, "THAT?"

"Well, for us it is a Massive, Galactic-scale, continuously expanding, Megastructure, built to roughly the complete size and scale of a small solar system, with three planets orbiting around a central point, the point itself being one of the main sources of power for the whole structure, which is a star, specifically a scaled down yellow dwarf star, called Lumen, with the other power source being the multiple anti-matter energy relays that exist as the core for the main cities and in the space between the cities, we should be passing one now I believe," stated the Operator of the craft they were on.

They saw what she spoke of as the passed by massive facility, the whole thing having a cylindrical shape as rings on either end seemed to pulse with energy, and panels arranged around the ends of the rings seemed to absorb the energy from the rings, and they could each panel briefly pulse as the energy seemed to be sent out to, somewhere.

"Or as known to humans as, a Dyson Sphere, or at least quite a number of human civilizations refer to it as such," stated the operator, "also I do believe introductions were never made, though not like a have no knowledge of who you are team RWBY," the operator stated to them matter-of-factly.

Uh, how much do you know," Ruby said, and the robot girl looked at her, giving a knowing smile, and snapped her fingers.

Holographic screens came up, and they saw that it showed them, and their lives.

They saw Ruby annihilating Beowolves at her mother's grave (Yang cheered Ruby and Blake was impressed), Yang destroying a bar (the looks Ruby and Blake gave made her nervously whistle as she looked away), Blake and her former partner Adam attempting to rob a Schnee company train (Blake couldn't look at either Ruby or Yang, though Yang held Blakes hand in a comforting gesture, Blake didn't refuse it), and Wiess fighting and defeating the Arma Gigas in pitched battle (RBY all cheered at Wiess action, though Wiess noted the R was much more enthusiastic in her cheering).

"We are aware of the life that is centered around you, as well as those around you, and so much more, be it the past," the robot girl stated, showing more holograms of their lives, showing them more bittersweet moments of their lives, Yang's almost ill-fated journey with Ruby that almost led to a horrible end at the jaws of Grimm were it not for a certain crows intervention. Then it showed the argument between Jacques and Willow Schnee, with Wiess having heard the outburst and tearing up while huddled outside of the door to the dinning hall. Blake was shown at a rally of the old non-terrorist White Fang, and then showed her being hit by a mistral officers night-stick and then being nearly mauled by a police dog, with another White Fang member barely getting her out. Finally, it showed Ruby, as a young girl, crying in Yang's arms with their father, who was also tearing up, held them close as they stood before the grave of Summer Rose, after a the funeral was held.

The four girls had varying reactions, as they were now much closer together, holding each other in comfort and warmth as they saw some of the darkest moments in the lives of their teammates, this time doing so equally with one another.

"Then there is your present," followed by screens showing the teams life at Beacon Academy, the teams initiation, their battle against the terrorist White Fang, battling Grimm during the Breach of Vale, with the four of them getting closer through these events, and their victories in the Vytal festival tournament.

The team felt at ease to the happy memories that they felt, and the challenges they faced and overcame as they fought, worked, and lived together, truly happy that they became a team together.

"Then there is your future," the robot girl spoke, before the screens flared to life, showing them fighting in the Fall of Vale, the team watching in horror as one of their classmates was killed by the woman who instigated the Fall using the Grimm and White Fang, their classmate being Pyrrha Nikos, and the woman being a person Ruby had met named Cinder Fall. Then it showed Blake taking Yang out of the main school building, Blake clutching Yang's hand tightly and Yang squeezing back as they saw Yang's arm had been cut off, and in the building it showed the visage of a White Fang warrior Blake knew very well, Adam Taurus. Then it showed the team going separate ways, with Blake fleeing from Vale in fear in an honestly vain attempt to keep Adam away from her friends, Yang stuck at home having lost her arm and Blake leaving, Wiess being taken back to Atlas by her father for 'her protection', and Ruby watching her sister and feeling heart break at all that happened.

The team could only watch in stunned and horrified silence at the scenes of the fall and what happens to them afterward, then new screens appear, this time showing Wiess in Atlas succeeding in mastering her summoning. Blake in Menagerie with her parents and the people, proclaiming that they will take back the White Fang. Yang in Patch getting a new cybernetic prosthetic and leaving on her motorbike headed to catch up with Ruby.

However, as the team looked in hope and pride as their future started to change for the better and that they would join together again …. Something …. Happened?

As they saw Rubies path, as she prepared to head out to mistral to try and find out anything about Cinder, the screen showed Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, andfkd_** 09r03mgvl;ffdg456**_!

"AAAGGGGHHHHH," they all screamed out as a horrible pain assailed their heads as the final person seemed to just warp out on the screen, appearing as a warped humanoid smudge, whilst they felt severe pain erupt through their brains and their visions going a myriad of colors, some of which they were not sure even had names or even existed.

"What … happening …. All … HURTING," Yang growled out as her brain felt like it was being ground up by an industrial scale boring drill, the others not able to form words through the pain.

It was only after the pain had ceased, that they were able to think clearly once more.

"Wh-what the heck just happened," Wiess said, "why did that happen, and who was the final person."

Thee robot girl gazed at them, then simply stated.

"You will soon find the answer to your questions and more, because we have arrived."

Then the front hatch opened, revealing the ship to be at the entrance to an utterly massive structure, one that was about the size of one of the large city blocks in the megastructure, yet this seemed to comprise of a single structure, with each part of the structure linking to a massive central structure, as though the other buildings had grown outward from the central structure, the structure itself being in the form of massive six sided prism, larger than anything they ever knew, with multiple entrances and windows throughout.

They had appeared at one of the large entrances, which before their eyes shifted in shape, texture and color to resemble a large gate with six pillars, three on each side embedded in the wall, and the doors of the gate having halo pattern with a metallic sheen to it, with a simple pattern in the center resembling an arching structure.

Then silently the doorway opened, the four feeling a rather strong sense of foreboding from the entryway and the lobby itself.

"This is where we part ways RWBY, the one who has the answers you seek lies within," the robot girl soon turned to enter her larger half, but before that.

"Wait, we didn't get your name," Ruby stated.

"Yeah, we gave you our names, even though you already knew them, but you still have at least say your name," stated Blake.

The robot girl turned to them, then looked away in thought, then it closed its eyes, breathed in and out (even though it doesn't need air), then turned to them with a sort of wistful look.

"Okay, my name is the name of the ship itself, which is its designation," she stated, "and that designation is Arsenal Defense System ADS-1563, ID-578035, designation: **Redemption XXI**."

With that the now named Redemption jumped into its brain core, then the core shifted back into the main ship, the opening now closed and the ship soon pulled away to fly back to its city block, with several of the other robot girls flying alongside the ship.

Team RWBY looked on as the ship left, waving goodbye as it left, until it was soon out of sight.

Then they turned back to the currently open doorway, looking at the entryway and the seemingly endless hallway that led within.

"So," Yang said, "who goes first."

The other three just looked at Yang with a slightly exasperated look, then Yang grabbed her partners arm and walked right inside, Ruby and Wiess following right behind them.

As the passed through the door, the area they landed on suddenly disassembled itself and merged into the building, with the door almost soundlessly closing behind them, with the doorway itself soon merging into the building and disappearing, leaving on the smooth exterior of the building.

* * *

Team RWBY made their way down a the hallway, headed toward their destination, wherever it was, though of course many of them were currently a bit apprehensive at what was happening and the memory of what had happened back in Redemption still left them more than a bit rattled.

"Girls, I know that Redemption said this was the only way to find our answer, but even think that maybe we should think this through," Wiess said, trying to be a voice of reason.

"We already came this far, and were already here," stated Blake as she gestured to the hall they were in, "after coming this far, do really think we even can turn back."

"Yeah besides, if anything does happen, I'll just deal with it like I do with any problem, even if I don't have Ember Celica with me," Yang stated as she slammed her fists together, a grin on her face as she looked ready to fight, "so don't worry yourselves over anything, let's just-'Ghhkk'?"

Yang bumped into Ruby, who was looking out into a large room, and Yang turned to look at Ruby to ask what was up, but her words died at what she saw in the center of the room, Wiess and Blake soon sharing her shocked stare.

At a quick glance it looked like a human male, a boy who seemed close to their age, wearing long light blue jeans that seemed a bit worn, a pair of simple hunter boots, had armor worn over a hoodie, and at their hip was a sheath for a simple longsword.

However, everything else was wrong.

The body of the individua was made of a strange shining, black-colored substance, one that stained parts of the pants black, dripped off of the arms and head, all of which had a shape similar to a young man, simply gazing forward.

However, it wasn't the individuals physical form that disturbed them, rather it was his resemblance to someone they knew, or at least, they thought it was some_**Eaern TVeW KtW SgsSHGJFwefTd,djkibx. ghssAGGHHHHHHHHHH!**_

Their heads were assailed with horrible pain, as something began to form in their minds, something that at first felt like a memory that was simply forgotten, yet was also of such immense importance that they should not have forgotten it, not even as a joke.

"AAAGGGHHH, Wha-wha-What was it, s-s-some-thing, it w-was im-por-tant, what was it," Ruby struggled through the pain, struggling to remember.

"UUURRRGGHHH, what was IIIITTTT, it WAS something important, what WAAASSSS IIIITTTTT," Wiess shouted out, trying to dredge up the memory.

"GRRRR, think, THINK, **THINK**, **DAMNIT WHAT WAS IT**," Yang growled out in a frustrated voice as she squeezed her head with both hands as she barley stood through the pain.

"GGGGHHHHHKKKKK, EEERRRRHHHH, AAAAAAGGGHHHHH," Blake let out frustrated shouts as she felt like her head was splitting.

Then a screen came on, then another, and another.

Then the screens began showing images of them and …. _Someone_?

Ruby was having a nice and calm conversation with the individual, Yang was making some joking quips to the individual, the person was trying to serenade Wiess with some music (which only seemed to annoy Wiess), and the individual was trying to strike up a conversation with Blake.

Then it showed missions in which they were with another team, called _NPR.

No, the first word, it was … it was, wa-!

A memory flashed through, the memory of inititation, where the teams were formed, and the team named before them was named, its name was ….

… JNPR, Juniper.

Then a sudden jolt shot through their heads, and then, slowly but surely, the figure in their mind began to become clearer and clearer, the image of the leaser of team JNPR.

Slightly messy blonde hair, a slightly dorky manner almost similar to Ruby, weak at a glance but a lot of determination, and finally an strong sense of honesty, courage, and intellect that showed itself when it was needed, with the problem only slightly being the person and more the people he was leading.

There was more to him, they knew there was more, but these stood out to them most.

A person that seemed unimpressive and that no one would really pay attention to or look at, an average everybody in the eyes of many people and a nobody to most others, yet to them he was not average or a nobody, he helped them, did something important for them.

This person, who they could now see clearer, the leader of team JNPR who others saw as unworthy of the position, they knew better, that he had potential, that he could be someone great.

The name of this person, all of team RWBY focused on this fact, on his name, his identity, that his name was … was … WASSSS!

Then the unknown individual dispersed into the air, but not like the Grimm, rather becoming small dark glimmering particles, slowly dispersing into the air, and the particles flowing to a now opening door that had formed on the far wall, and seemed to flow into an individual on the other side of the door.

The individual wore what seemed to be a full body armor, similar to the metal that made up the walls of the building around them, with a long flowing cloak draped over them, and the person looked at the four girls as the glimmering material seemed to slowly intwine itself into the cloak, the hood obscuring most of the face, with lower half showing a rather feminine look to it, and as their voice passed through their lips, a very similar genetic pattern to themselves.

"Welcome, " came the warm welcoming voice of a young woman, probably at their age at least, "we are happy you have arrived here at Qaunta Aeterna, but before we proceed, I wish to ask you but one question before we proceed."

The woman then shifted her gaze to all of them from beneath her cloak and seeing all of them were paying close attention to her, she gave a soft smile at them and then stated her question, the question was.

"Are you all familiar with the name …

… **Jaune Arc."**

* * *

**OMG, None of you would believe the writers block I had between my last work an now, but as I looked at the RWBY works of other authors featuring Jaune Arc, I began to want to create one of my own, though with my own personal touch.**

**Some of what read seemed low-key, yet in others there was some real passion put into it, and eventually I just wanted to make one of my own, though of course, this one's going to be my way.**

**All can say is that I hope you enjoy reading and post your own opinions out.**

**Aeos React, OUT!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1 – Introduction and Revelation

The girls of team RWBY all stood in front of the unknown individual as they looked at the four, watching them as looked at the girl yet their minds were focused on her question.

"Are you familiar with the name … **Jaune Arc?"**

The four of them could only look at the unknown figure as they made this statement to them, but then Ruby stated what the others also knew.

"Y-yes, he's our classmate, he was the leader of team JNPR at Beacon, we hung out with them and him," Ruby stated firmly first, but then seemed to become unsure and panicked in her next words, "yet, somehow, even though I remember his name, even though I know who he is, it all feels so … distant, vague, like he isn't truly there, like he could just disappear at any given time."

As Ruby spoke, her memories of Jaune Arc were almost broken, or even fading, with Jaune in her memories either having most of his body blotted out with a rippling darkness, or with cracks appearing in her memories of him, the cracks centered on him and only faded when he left the memory.

The other girls also had this happen in their minds, with Jaune being a broken, distorted part within their memories.

The figure looked at the four, seeing their faces in obvious distress, before she then spoke to them, "you are wondering why your memories of Jaune Arc are so … broken, aren't you, why he appears to be fading from your memories, or why he seems to be a fractured distortion when you try to recall who he is."

The girls are now fully attentive to the girl, who they now believed knew what they wished to be answered.

"The reason for this, for why you are here, for what brought you here, all of these answers can be found here," the girl told them, to which their eyes widened and were about to speak had the girl held a hand up showing she had more to say, "but to get these answers, you will need to do something first, something that ties into all that has and is happening to you."

"So, what is it, what's this important thing we need to do so that we know, well, everything about what the heck is happening to us," Yang was the one who said this.

"This structure, the Quanta Aeterna, was created to store the 'journeys' of a specific individual throughout many divergent paths, where different actions have been taken, actions that lead to changes in the reality of the worlds these 'journeys' take place in. Whether minor, such as certain individuals developing different desires and wants in their lives, or one relationship happening in one reality that did not occur in another reality, to immense changes such as the world, galaxy or universe itself developing in such a way as to be entirely alien from the branching reality, to entire worlds, solar systems and entire galaxies that exist in another reality, not existing at all in the current reality." The girl finished her long speech to catch her breath, breathing in and out as team RWBY listened to her, even Yang was listening, though just because what she was saying sounded interesting to her, then the girl spoke again, "this is what people refer to as the theory of the Multiverse, different realities all branching outward, infinitely and eternally, causing realities to form in ways that either are either plausible and sometimes logical even, to realities so absurd and illogical that attempting to understand them usually drives the one trying to understand to the depths of either madness or suicide. It is realities like this, centered on the individual known as Jaune Arc that formed what could be called a mutiversal convergence, in which events, areas and even entities from these realities can bleed over from one reality into another, in this case, some of these realities grew close enough together that aspects from one reality ended up in another, causing minor alterations that grew steadily, until it lead to a large spillover, a spillover that happened to your reality."

It was Wiess that responded to this, "Okay, hold up right there, your saying that from these 'alternate realities', something came from them into our reality, and that's the reason we are here, and why we can't recall Jaune," Wiess said as she told the unknown girl what she got from the explanation,

"I'm afraid it is exactly what that means, a large something or worse, a compounded amount of **something's** have entered your world and caused enough of a distortion to the current reality of your world that it has changed your reality in a quite honestly, major alteration event," the girl then turned their attention to a large holo-screen that appeared on one of the walls of the large room, with the screen appearing a light charcoal color to them, "this screen is used to display either one of the multitude of 'journeys' that are catalogued and archived here and in the adjoining complexes, or to show a certain reality and its current state as it is observed, and brace yourselves for this, because all we are receiving from viewing your reality is … this."

The screen flickers to … a warped, flickering shuddering, discordant mess of dissonant tones, harsh and clashing colors, and distorted, broken, unidentifiable images. The entire thing was a completely chaotic and unsalvageable mess that the current occupants of the room couldn't identify no matter how they try to view it.

Then with flicker the image went out, leaving the screen its light gray charcoal color once more.

"That is all we end up getting when we try to view your reality, only a chaotic mess of unreadable images and broken static, as for why this is happening and what is causing this to happen, we have linked it to multiple other realities that we have archived here in the Quanta, all of these realities range from high minor and lesser massive divergence types," the girl states to them, " essentially, they are from realities linked to realities sharing a similar energy imprint to your currently reality, but range from a significant change from the events of your worlds timeline all the way to your world, the world of Remnant, not even existing at all."

This got a very shocked reaction out of everyone, the thought of their world not even existing at all was a very terrifying prospect for them, as that meant that they didn't exist, not them not their families (though the thought of Jaques Gele (refuse to call him Schnee) was a very appealing thought to Blake and, (not) surprisingly Wiess Schnee).

"If you are wondering, you still exist in these realities, Remnant or no Remnant, though with how different these realities are, you end up with vastly different upbringings, names, even genders," the girl stated matter of factly to the four now bewildered girls.

"So, your saying that in another world, I'm a boy," Ruby stated, a bit disturbed by the idea.

The screen came on, this time showing a reality, which shows team RWBY at Beacon Academy, except that their genders are now quite noticeably different in this reality.

"Well, this is kinda awkward," Ruby says, looking at her male self, "though why am I still so short even as a guy."

"You know, in a way I guess I sort of look like a younger version of dad," Yang noted the striking similarity to her version in this reality to Taiyang, "and isn't it nice Ruby, your still my cute little bro in that reality."

"NO," Ruby shouted in exasperation.

"I look like my father," Wiess bitterly noted, seeing a stark (and unwelcome) resemblance between herself and Jacques.

Blake was more reserved in her judgement of her male self but seeing that he did not hide his faunas features from others showed he far braver that then she ever was, still unwilling to reveal her heritage.

"This is, in a surprising aspect to you, a medium minor alteration to your reality," the girl spoke, then a new image appeared, "this reality would best be described as a major medium alteration."

The girls looked at the screen, and it immediately flashed on.

They were treated to what seemed to be a large and terrible battle, fought between two groups.

The first group appeared clad in dark clothes with an armored vest, knee and elbow pads, and helmets with an ocular device on top, with them using rifles of some variety, rifles that they noted had rather large magazines.

"Those guns must be using at least .44 or a smaller .50 caliber ammunition, which is not that strong but does have a lot of impact," Ruby said, taking extra close notice of the weapons.

The scene continues showing that on the shoulder patches of many soldiers is the flag that none of them can place seeing anywhere on Remnant, and running alongside four wheeled armored vehicles, which all had large guns on top that were rapidly shooting shells ahead of them at their unknown enemy. Then on the screen someone runs by the view at high speed, weaving through the soldiers and rushing ahead of the battle line.

"THAT'S UNCLE QROW," Ruby screamed at such a high volume and pitch it was almost a screech, "what's he doing with those guys, are they fighting Grimm, is that what their fighting, oh this is gonna be so awesome."

Then the viewing stopped, and the girls looked at the girl, confused, only to see her with a deep frown and rather sad eyes, with a look that seemed almost apologetic in a way.

"Ruby, what will be shown next, is something that will be dark for you given your innocence, but also essential, given the path you have chosen," the girl continued before Ruby could speak, "what you are about to see is the darker half of the profession known as huntsman, a part that involves something that, due to you being raised in such a sheltered environment, has made it much more difficult for you to accept."

Ruby looked at the girl, taking in her words, Yang herself looked a little worried at what the girl was saying and what Ruby was about to see, while Wiess was just left with a questioning expression as to what Ruby would be shown and Blake had a look that had a pointed anger at girl, thinking that this girl was about to do something terrible to Ruby.

"Haah, well as the modern expression goes, 'better to just rip off the bandage now and deal with the pain now, rather than let it just get worst later on," the girl then prepared to let the scene play, "prepare yourselves, for this is the darker side of the huntsman profession."

The screen played, showing Qrow running with Harbinger in its sword form, and then he thrust the blade forward.

'SQUELCH'

To the horror of Ruby, it showed her uncle not striking into the body of a Grimm, but with his weapon having gone completely through another person, one wielding a dust rifle with an Atlesian design ethic to it, and wearing white and black armored clothing with the symbol of a fist that was dark red in color on the armor, now further stained red by the blood flowing out of the man's body and onto the ground.

Everyone was in stunned silence as they saw this happen, seeing a supposed champion of mankind effortlessly cut down another human, ending his life and spilling his blood.

"Wha-What the fu-heck was that," Yang said, now holding a traumatized Ruby near her, "why did Uncle Qrow kill that man, what is going on."

"What he did miss Xiaolong, was his job, the job of a fully trained professional huntsman," then the image changed, showing what seemed to be a fourth year class of Beacon Academy, "and if time allowed it and you had finished your time at Beacon, something you would also understand as the necessary evil that all huntsmen must go through."

The screened then focused on the textbook of the Beacon fourth year, showing the title of the book to be, 'Huntsman Ethics and Responsibilities, Course 4, Beacon Academy', then it showed the book open to a later chapter of the book, and at the title of the chapter, team RWBY's blood became cold.

"Wiess," Wiess then looked to the girl who had a focused on her with a piercing glare, "since you are such an avid reader of educational guides, and other such assorted literature, then I believe you who was so forward with entering the Huntsman career, should read what is perhaps one of the more impactful and in-depth pieces of knowledge all huntsmen will inevitable face."

Wiess wanted to say no, and protest saying out loud what is written, but the girls glare did not falter and thus, word for word, Wiess spoke.

"Th-the Morality, Ethics and Consequence of Huntsman actions, Part 1, S-Saving life by t-t-t-**taking** life," Wiess read the initial portion of the chapter, "In the career of Huntsmen and Huntresses, there will come moments in which either your very life will be at stake, you have innocent lives on the line, or the situation is such that no other option is present, where your enemy will not be the creatures of Grimm but will instead be either your fellow man, human or Faunus, and the situation is set that you are left with either of two terrible options, where you and your enemy('s) will be in conflict, with the end result being either you or the opponent leaving the battle … **alive**."

Ruby shuddered at this, having not known at all this fact and having believed that the career of a huntsman was to protect all life, and that to stop villains simply meant beating them until they were unconscious. Now, now she felt a coldness in her as she shuddered at the fact that she would need to one day take the life of another in order to protect another.

"I qu-," spoke Blake softly.

The other girls turned to look at Blake with Yang saying, "what?"

"I quit, I'm quitting, I won't be a huntress," Blake said in a shuddering tone, "I joined Beacon because I wanted to redeem myself of what I did in the White Fang, to be away from the killing and death, to try and save others, not go back to the killing!"

"Blake, listen its not like-," Blake cut of Wiess.

"No Wiess, you saw and read it to, we have to take the lives of others, this is what I swore I would never do again, and now I find out that we will be nothing more than killers, that everything I ever tried to do was for nothing, this isn't what I wanted, this is so fucked up," Blake cursed aloud, startling Ruby and shocking Wiess and Yang, "they want us to kill others, to take another life and justify it with some excuse, that 'there was no other way', 'that it needed to be done', well I am done, I quit being a huntress or anything like it and this fucking stupid huntsman profession can go an-!"

KA-BAM

Blake was sent slamming into the far wall with incredible force, enough to cause a ripple on the wall itself, leaving her to slide down its surface, and to the ground, blood leaking out of her nose as she was left dazed by the hit.

The three girls, in completely stunned silence saw the girl, her hand outstretched into a fist, the gauntlet of the fist almost smoking from the impact.

"Your words," the girl spoke as she seemed to loom threateningly over the four, the sheer killing intent leaking off of her almost indescribable as she then caused an the shadows to erupt out of all corners of the room, and seizing Blake, bringing her right in front of the girl, suspended in mid-air, Blakes nose having already healed (though not by what she usually thinks). "your words, they shame and dishonor all of whom chose to do what needed to be done, to save the lives of those who lived, and prevent further death at the hands of the irredeemable."

Blake could only look fearfully at the girl as she was held off the ground unable to escape the girls power (which she incorrectly guessed was her Semblance), then she was slowly lowered to the ground, and was released from the hold.

"Yet I know what your speaking of, the desire to not shed blood, to 'not be like them', I am fully aware of what you are going through and why you don't want to go down that path, besides knowing of your entire history," the girl said as the unknown shadow dispersed into the empty air, " because, in my past I to was once a huntress, specifically from Shade Academy in Vacuo, though that was a long time ago."

The four girls were stunned at what they heard, finding out the person they were speaking to be a huntress, but the girl continued.

"Shocking isn't it, I fought hard through all the pain and poverty of Vacuo to become a huntress, with the dream of destroying Grimm and protecting all life, and even after I became a fully licensed huntsman I never once lifted my hand to kill, never took a life four years regardless of how terrible and irredeemable the person was, for the same reason as you, so I don't become like them." The girl seemed to reminisce for a bit, a small smile on her face as she remembered her past, "My team and I went on many missions, fought and beat any human or Faunus that attacked us or threatened others, and we would kept at it … that is until, **that **happened."

As Blake was about to ask what the girl continued.

"As to what it was, it was the event that had cost me everything, and left me with a permanent reminder of why some individuals can only be stopped by death," the girl stated, and then like swallowing a bitter and heavy pill, she gulped down and went to explain the worst time of her existence.

"We had managed to take down a particularly nasty rouge huntress with the help of at least nine other hunter teams, her and her entire bandit tribe, we didn't kill her, only beat her and had her taken by the authorities, and we thought it was all over when we handed her over to them." Then the girls vision darkened completely, "then, almost a week later, the hunters from the other groups started to disappear, one after the other, no one found anything, just that we went on missions and never came back, and everyone thought that Grimm got them, but it wasn't the Grimm."

The girls were all nervous, seeing as a screen suddenly came up, and showed the images of huntsman, and all of them had the words MIA (missing in action) as their status, though they were more focused on what the girl would tell them.

"It was when my team started getting picked of that I found out what happened, the huntress we put away had gotten out, and she came right at us for revenge, and not just her, she had new subordinates with her now, and I managed to follow them straight back to their hideout," the haunted look on her face was telling of a horrible event transpiring, "I found them, all of them, they were alive."

The girls were about breathe a sigh of relief when the next words took that breath away.

"Is what I want to say, they were being kept alive, so that they could continue to suffer," a screen came on, and all the girls were beyond horrified to the image of a young man having been viciously flayed, his clothes in tatters, his face a bloody mess and on his skin were patches inlaid with salt and the still living boy was writhing against his restraints in sheer agony, then the image clips out, "the truly horrifying part is that image is the least graphic of what I was made to experience that day, with worse as I had to make my way through what I had then believed was the depths of hell itself, seeing the missing huntsmen being tortured and kept alive solely to suffer."

RWBY were horrified into silence, Ruby being held close by Yang, Wiess holding onto Ruby by the side, and Blake was visibly in shock from what she heard.

"It was worse when after going through who knows how many of her followers I finally found her, she had tortured to death the huntsman who captured her, the one who brought her to justice, and she was tearing him apart while he was paralyzed and broken from all the torture," then she formed an angry scowl and through gritted teeth said, "and she was **smiling**, she was happy, she was enjoying everything she was doing to him, and laughed every time he voiced his pain, and it just made her happier."

"I wanted to take her down, bring her in, but then all of her followers just rushed in where we were all at once, and I had to fight them all, dodging striking, attacking, and then I got one down to no aura, but he didn't stop," she said in a cold voice as she remembered, "and it happened, my first kill, cut his head clean, and it all came down on me, 'I became like them', 'I'm a murder', 'monster', all of those thoughts passed through my head that I was a truly horrible person … then I saw the face."

The screen then showed it, a severed head falling to the ground, the girls all screaming, Yang yelling 'what is wrong with you', Ruby pressed herself against her sister in terror of seeing a man being cut down, Wiess and Blake not faring any better with holding back their disgust at the brutal death.

Then they all saw his face.

It was more horrifying than seeing his death.

Instead of his face being twisted into a rictus of fear and pain as they thought a person would be when they died, the man's face wasn't. It was frozen in a horrifying smile, the man's eyes wide and open in a look of utter madness and a big toothy smile that reached to his cheeks was on his face, a scene that the girls saw as more wrong than his death.

Then the screen panned, and it showed the faces of all the others, and on every face, was that same psychotic smile or an equally psychotic grin, all of them holding weapons caked in blood, their clothes covered in blood.

"They all murdered people, they butchered and tortured countless people for a long time," the girl continued, the team slowly turning to look at her, terror in their eyes, "and the **enjoyed every second of it!"**

Then the screen showed an Estoc blade with a less advanced (compared to Wiess's weapon) Dust-revolver system in the hilt, as it shifted to use fire dust.

"After that, I could no longer see any of them as human, Faunus, or even as sentient creatures, all I could see then, were humanoid monsters, that only looked like people," she showed the rest of what happened, "and throughout the rest of the fight, they did nothing to dissuade my view, instead, they only reinforced it."

The men died, cut down during the fight, but they didn't die screaming or in pain, no, they died while laughing, they held those same wretched smiles even as they were cut down, the girl cutting them all down, now without any restraint as she ended their lives one after the other, up until it showed her face on a broken mirror.

It was a dead face, completely empty of any expression and emotion, eyes were dark and lifeless, and the skin was completely pale in contrast to the blood that stained her face, clothes and weapons.

This continued until she reached the girl herself, who had finished cutting the head off the dead hunter, and she was shown to be …

… _**making out with the head!**_

"That is wrong, that is both fucked up and vile," Yang couldn't and didn't dare process what she was looking at, the scene already more than horrific for her eyes.

Ruby and Wiess were regurgitating the contents of their stomach into a waste disposal chute that opened itself up in the room.

Blake herself covered her mouth to force down the bile that built up, the horror of the rouge huntress's actions horrible enough as is, but she then saw that the girl was also a Faunus, and a feline-type like herself.

"**Why must you get in the way, after so long my love and I are finally together," the psychotic cradles the head close, but the girl only aims her blade at the insane Faunus, and the Faunus tentatively puts don the head, and pulls out two long whips with sharp edges, one coated with fire dust, the second with electric dust, before turning to the severed head, "sorry darling, but I'm afraid me and my children, **_**Flay **_**and **_**Rend**_** have to take care of a small distraction, but don't worry love, I'll be back soon."**

The fight went, the girls of RWBY watching as the girl faced the insane rouge huntress, dodging many attacks from the whips, as well as elemental slashes made by the whips at range, but the girl soon begins to counter the insane huntress's whip attacks, while at the same time, wearing down her Aura as well, at least until the insane huntress suddenly began to move erratic and sporadic, like some deranged beast.

As the fight on the screen continued, the rouge then rushed the girl, pushing her to the ground, and stabbing her in the shoulder, the bladed bottom of the whip piercing the girls arm, causing her to scream in pain, and the insane girl was now poised to end the young huntress then and there.

The girls of RWBY watched in horror as the rouge huntress was about to kill the young huntress … who was currently standing right next to them and was looking at the in a deadpan stare.

"One, I am not dead," she spoke to them, "two, one of the two reasons why are coming up."

The girl stretched her hand, which now had a subtle glow to it, and thrust it into the chest of the rouge huntress, and then the place she pressed, which was visible since the rouge wore clothes that revealed her cleavage, suddenly became a dark red. The Huntress's aura violently flared as she suddenly began to spasm, the reddening on the spot touched by the girl became even more red and blisters began to appear, and the insane rouge huntress soon looked like she was having a violent seizure.

The girls of RWBY turned to their current host, who only looked at them and said, "thermal control," she stated, "I can make something as hot or as cold as I want, with the temperature between 91 and 39

, degrees Fahrenheit, which can happen around my body or on objects that I touch, and with my training at the time, I could sustain it for five minutes, or thirty if I keep physical contact with the object."

"So, you can make things as hot as boiling water or as cold as ice water," Blake stated, not liking what she saw where the screen was going with this info.

"Yes, and the effect on liquids is quite pronounced," the girl then turned to the screen with an almost malicious glint, "especially to violent, insane and irredeemable skin sacks full of water.

The girls of RWBY soon bore witness to the horror of this fact, as the girl on screen began to cool and heat the girl, blistering skin, chilling bone, bursting blood vessels and causing blood to freeze.

By the team it was over, the rouge insane huntress was a broken wreck of herself, her broken body shuddering as one of her lungs had burst and her heart beat was now slowed, her legs broken from rapidly cooling and freezing them, and her right hand was shattered from the temperature semblance, and her left arm was fractured, half of her face boiled badly.

The girls of Ruby watched this horrible scene as their host them moved to the rouge, blade in hand, but then their host pointed the blade end of her sword at the neck of her opponent and stated that even though she should kill her, that she deserved to die, she would give the rouge huntress one and only one chance, the chance that no one else would give her, surrender and get taken in, or die were she lay.

The girls were quite proud of their host for trying to get her enemy to accept surrender, though given the battle and how malicious the rouge huntress was, none of team RWBY's members saw there being a good ending to this whole situation.

Their hosts brief sentence all but solidified their worries.

"It was the greatest mistake in my life."

The rouge huntress turned to look at the girl … then she flashed a final manic grin, which on her mangled face was more horrifying than it was before. Then her fractured left arm shot up, grabbed her whip, and shot the whip at a random pillar …

… a pillar covered in fire dust bombs, bombs that the huntress girl saw planted all over the entire building!

The last rouge huntress said only one final thing …

… "_**burn"**_ …

… and then.

**BFOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM**

Team RWBY could only watch as the screen was swallowed in flame, and then the screen just went dark.

Clunk-Floof-Pank

Team RWBY, their faces frozen in horrified silence at what they had seen, turned to see what their host had been doing, finding her removing her armor and clothes, though only enough that it left her with less cloth and armor on her body, but enough to leave her decent.

Though the clothing was not what the team was focusing on, rather it was the girl herself. They saw her face, with half of her face looking quite pretty and nice to look at, she had relatively shoulder length dark brown hair with a lighter colored fringe, but the other half of her face had bandages covering the raw skin that signified the severe burns beneath the bandages, and they saw that where their wasn't cloth or armor, only some parts had healthy lightly tan skin, the rest was white and raw or covered in advanced medical bandages.

"I tried, I really tried to be a pure and honest person, to be the type of person all of you wish to remain," the girl then shifted to stare at them as she put the removed pieces of armor and cloth back on, "but the world wouldn't allow that, when the explosion happened I truly thought I would die there in that fire, but I was saved, saved by the very beings who call this superstructure home, and through the viewing of my reality and the reality of countless others, I discovered what I chose to be, and it wasn't a hero."

After a rather long pause that seemed to last for an eternity, it was Blake that spoke, "wh-wha-what d-did you ch-choose to do?"

"I chose the path of the outcast, the path of those who do not exist," she spoke with a strong determination, "I choose to leave behind any chance of a good and honest life behind, and went on to live in the darkness, fighting against the deepest parts of the darkness, killing the most vile and irredeemable of souls, ending entire criminal enterprises and terrorist plots leaving not a soul alive to tell. I chose to dive headfirst into the wretched filth of the world, ending the dreams of the maniacal and the insane before they could bring their nightmarish desires into reality. I chose to get dirty …

… so that the rest of the world, including you all, could remain clean and pure, continuing to have your wonderful dreams while I and others like myself staved off the nightmares in the darkness."

The girl finished speaking, allowing team RWBY to take in what they saw, and felt as though everything they believed about the world was wrong, and the girl continued.

"This is what I chose for myself, this what I decided my path would be, what I did was simply show you why I chose this path, in no way am I trying to force you to agree or tried to break your dreams, although I am pretty sure I already did that." The look from Yang that all but screamed 'no really' was all she needed to do, "I did this as a way to wake you up to the reality of these events, to give you a sense of caution so that should such horrible events, though not at the magnitude you witnessed occur to you, you will not be caught off guard and either wind up in a terrible position, horribly injured or worse from such encounters, encounters that I am sorry to say are a very real and expected possibility to those who take up arms against the darkness of your or any world, be they Grimm, human, Faunas or otherwise. This is a fact that I understand very well …

… and he as well."

The screen then came back on to show the image of Qrow Branwen, now removing the blade from the dead body of the unknown enemy soldier, only to barely block the strike of a young woman whose weapon, a lance-cannon hybrid, showed her to be a huntsman or had huntsman training, but was wearing the dark black and white clothing with a crimson-colored, hand shaped insignia on the of her clothes and on armored shoulder pauidrons.

"**Traitor,"** the girl all but screeched at Qrow, **"don't you realize who you are fighting against, what we are trying to achieve, our grand goal to safe guard all of humanity, and you are getting in the way of that, the goal of a true and pure future, for humans, by humans!"**

The girls of RWBY, who had originally acted with shock at a huntsman attacking another human, were now having many second thoughts due having their eyes opened to the worst of humans and Faunus, began to draw very disturbing parallels to the girls words and how they sounded very similar to the creed of the radical White Fang, though in this case it was instead _human supremacy_ rather than _Faunus supremacy_.

"That girl, she sort of sounds like how I used to, before I left the White Fang," Blake states this, remembering the hypocritical things she said of how the White Fang fought for the future of all Faunas and how all Faunas had a part to play.

"In many ways, you and her were a lot alike, yet also quite different," the host said to them, "you saw the error of your ways and the wrongs that the people you supported were causing, you left before you fell to it all, something this girl did not realize or do, and thus she will end as you would have, had you chosen to remain with the White Fang."

Before Blake could question what, her fate could end up as, the screen continued.

Qrow was now in pitched battle with the girl, and then said, **"unfortunately for you, I am not crazy, and also not a racist asshole, unlike your gang of idiocy that is literally made up entirely of racist assholes, you included I bet," **Qrow spoke, before the girl charged again, fury on her face as she tried to skewer Qrow, then she switched the form of the lance and fired the cannon at Qrow, pushing him back quite a distance, a battle raging around them, before she spoke to Qrow in a mad tirade.

"**This is the only way for our species to survive, for the humans of Remnant to flourish. When that event happened, when we suddenly came to this world, a world entirely of humans, where they rule much of the land and have even succeeded where we failed and ascended to the heavens, we thought we had found our paradise, a place for the humanity of Remnant to flourish, a world ruled by humans. Then, oh then, when they discovered the Faunus, they did the most unforgivable act that they could and welcomed them, allowed the Faunus to have ****rights**** and ****privileges****, giving them what should belong to humans and humans alone."**

The girl charged Qrow, who met her charge with a sharp strike to her head, which she deflected with her lance, yet before she could give chase a missile slammed into her, blasting her into the wall of the base she was defending, Qrow following her in, while the soldiers he was with were rapidly gaining ground outside.

They now stood in a room, one that had a map that the girls did not know, showing many new landmasses that they didn't recognize, yet also showing the continents of their world, though markedly smaller in comparison to the larger landmasses and now spread out a great distance in different and far more distant oceans of the new land.

"**This world, a world vastly larger than anything we ever knew, it should have been our salvation, the new hope for all of Remnant, even with the Grimm this world still holds firm, its vast lands still within the hands of humanity, and the Grimm scattered and dispersed throughout this world, even now the armies of this world strike back at the beasts of Grimm, doing more damage against them and reclaiming more land from them within days what our civilization could not do in years. Yet when we believed we would stand together in a true human unity they spat on our friendship by giving those animals rights as well, foolishly allowing those beasts the means to rise above their station. We couldn't allow it, yet every time we tried to show them the true and proper path of human dominion, they smeared our ideals in mud, calling us anarchists, madmen, even monsters, and what's worse is that our leaders, the very councils themselves betrayed us, they gave into the governments of this world, enforcing laws to outlaw discrimination, to allow Faunus the right to work in our jobs and take our place, even the very countries we believed would back our cause, and even our greatest hope for domination over the faunas, all of them BETRAYED US!"**

The girl charged Qrow, dragging the fight deeper into the base, soon passing through several rooms, all filled with propaganda posters and paraphernalia that belonged to the organization the girl was with, all showing something or other of human domination and some slander against faunas, all the while, battles broke out throughout the base, the soldiers with Qrow blasting their way into the base, opening fire on the soldiers of the unknown organization, deaths began to mount on both sides as the soldiers used multiple forms of grenades and concentrated fire to kill many of the organizations troopers, all using darker more utilitarian versions of Atlesian technology and automation, the organization even had their own huntsmen, though they were not at the level of the girl, who was likely the leader of the base, though even if they stood above the soldiers in terms of speed, strength and had their auras, the soldiers started to switch tactics, by using the enclosed areas and multiple corridors of the base to lure the enemy huntsmen into kill zones, also employing multiple stun and disorientation weapons to leave the huntsmen in vulnerable positions, where the soldiers high caliber guns soon tore through the auras of the huntsman and ended with their deaths.

The scenes shocked RWBY quite deeply, as they saw regular human soldiers taking down multiple huntsman-class enemies, and that unlike dust rifles, they noticed the weapons used by the soldiers seemed to be quite vastly different than what they knew. It wasn't near the advanced level of Atlesian weapons, or as impressive as mecha-shift systems that most huntsmen used, but they all knew that they were still far more advanced than what Mistral or Vale still used, and easily surpassed whatever Vacuo ever made.

"H-hey, those weapons those soldiers are using, what are-," Ruby was cut off as the girl explained.

"Dust, its literally the main component of everything used in Remnant, even in weapons, but what most don't realize is the relation of Dust and Aura, specifically how Dust doesn't cause much damage beyond some physical trauma to an aura user, heck, the best proof of this was when a large vial of highly concentrated fire dust blew up in the faces of Ruby and Wiess and they hardly had anything happen beyond a small amount of soot," the host stated while Ruby and Wiess remembered that honestly embarrassing first meeting, "same thing when you put it into bullets, the dust used in bullets is only at full strength against Grimm but is honestly not worth mentioning against everything else, most dust bullets are quite low quality and even better quality dust bullets mostly travel at either a few yards per second at the lowest to being almost entirely subsonic at the highest, but it mainly comes down to the fact that against human enemies, Dust bullets just get sapped of power or don't even do any meaningful damage to the enemy when it contacts their aura, even those with inactive Aura's don't receive any real damage, and before you ask, this was tested to death and back with many dust based weapons, and the only weapons that can actually do the damage that matches up to Earth's weapons is basically only Atlesian produced weapons, with only a few dozens of huntsman weapons, and that's it."

The girls could only listen as the girl made her rant on the inadequacies of Remnant Dust weapons, which she states that only those who either have a strong Aura which influences the dust in or on the weapon, or use Atlas made weapons, are the only weapons that can get the full power of dust out of their weapons, while everyone else has to deal with weak, subpar armaments that are horribly inadequate, have low power and penetration, and are largely easy for even a standard human to effectively dodge.

"Then there's the reason that the weapons that the soldiers with Qrow are so much more powerful and effective, and it is the fact that there is no dust used in the construction of the bullets, but rather a specially made ignition substance that's largely referred to as 'gunpowder' that has become more potent as it was developed along with the bullets and guns its used for, with the main point of the material being that it is able to cause extensive damage to Aura do to its complete lack of Dust, which doesn't take away from the impact power of the bullet and allows more kinetic force to be put out by the bullets, allowing them to cut through an enemies aura much faster." The screen then showed a .50 caliber M100 sniper rifle, and shows the round blast a hole almost 4 inches wide in a 2 centimeter thick piece of steel, and another shot of the same weapon all but annihilating 6 large ceramic vases lined up in a row in an instant, then it showed a shot of Ruby's Crescent Rose during the fight in Mount Glenn, and from the same distance, the bullet shot from her weapon, which just missed a Beowolf shot into a store an hit a vase of similar make to what was shot by the other sniper rifle, and pinging off of the vase dealing almost no real damage to it, Ruby herself suddenly feeling a strong sense that her and her weapon had been viciously dissed. "I rest my case on that note, and that is not even getting into much of the technology and energy used by the people of the world Remnant found itself in, which is largely ahead of pretty much all of the kingdoms of Remnant save for Atlas, which is mostly due to Atlas's rather intense monopoly on technology, but unlike Atlas tech most of Earths tech was made to last, unlike most Atlas tech which has several fragile parts to it that can create a great deal of problems when in sustained conflict in some of the more dirtier and harsher environments, such as the forests, jungles, swamps and deserts of either Remnant or the current reality."

Wiess would have actually raised a complaint at that statement, but then recalled a massive amount of issues her father had with several new Atlas built systems that really did not pan out, causing more trouble for the SDC and some angry ranting from her father, who then, in his typical fashion, fixed the issue by selling the failed tech to Vacuo, who were in desperate need of adequate weapons for defense against the Grimm, failing or not, something that honestly made Wiess feel even more disgusted at her father.

Then the screen went back to the fight in the unknown base, between Qrow Branwen and the unknown terrorist huntress, both striking at one another in a vicious attempt to end the others life, all the while, the base was slowly being taken apart, explosions tearing through the building, the two even had to jump back from a weapon lock as part of the ceiling and a quad legged drone fell through the ceiling, its whole frame a smoking, burnt out hulk from whatever weapons were used on it.

"**Hey, if you don't seem to notice, things are going pretty bad for your pals here," **Qrow spoke, pointing to the many deceased organization troops and huntsmen, the alarms blaring as an electronic female voice reported breaches all throughout the base, that is until the voice was cut and the base darkened a bit before emergency power kicked on, **"I think its safe to say that this fights basically over, and right now I'm really don't wanna make this any bloodier than it needs to, so why not just put the weapon down and go in peacefully."**

His response was a strong overhead swing as the enemy huntress brought down her lance with all her strength, forcing Qrow to the ground, all while putting more strength into her attack, pushing the sharpened edge of the lance as close as possible to his head, fully intent on splitting his head open. Ruby and Yang urging Qrow to fight back, hoping their encouragement (not that Qrow could hear them), could give their uncle the strength to push back the enemy huntress.

"**Never, I will never surrender, WE will never surrender, we wont stop until everyone has paid," **the huntress now had a near manic look on her face she pressed her weapon down harder against Qrow's own, forcing him into a kneeling position, **"The humans of this world betrayed us, our own kingdoms betrayed us, then when we thought they would stand firm with us, that they would deny the desire of the traitorous humans of this world to free those animals … but no, they also betrayed us, giving those animals the privilege of humans and then throwing us away for standing by our beliefs. We now seek nothing but vengeance against them all, against the humans of this world, against the traitorous kingdoms, and against the cowards of the SDC who betrayed us all. We will fight them all, we will ensure the future of all humanity, and we will put the Faunus back where they belong, or else, end them, and no one will stop us, none will stand in our way. Long live humanity, LONG LIVE THE ****RED HAND****!**

**BIKKAAAAAANG-BSSSHHHHRRRR**

A large hole was blasted through the woman's chest, a massive blood spatter decorating the wall behind her, the woman's body having been blasted back by the shot now lay a short distance away from Qrow, eyes glazed over and quite obviously dead.

The girls of Ruby gazed in silence at the sheer power of whatever weapon was used to kill the woman, though Wiess and Blake were a bit more pre-occupied with what they heard.

"Jacques may be a scumbag, abusive husband and father, and massive douchebag, but he's first and foremost a businessman, and one thing businessmen know is how to ride the everchanging tide known as business," the host said as the girls now listened to her as she spoke about Jacques actions on the screen, "when Remnant was transferred to its current reality, Jacques saw many new opportunities, but of course when he hit the wall of the current worlds business practices, which were naturally against what he had in place, he realized he either had to lose the Faunus (slave) workforce, or lose what would be a monumental opportunity to vastly expand his business to new heights that had never been seen before, obviously he followed the path that would get him more lucrative opportunities, and acquiesced to their demands of giving the Faunus actual equal business rights. Same for the kingdoms, since they had at most one standing army that while technologically advanced, was up against almost a hundred nations, each with their own standing armies, with years of experience in warfare and conflict, as well as the Grimm, though now more dispersed throughout the new reality and thus no longer as present in the Remnant nations, still a very real and present threat, decided to do the smart thing and also acquiesced to the demands of the new reality's nations."

Wiess nodded (reluctant) agreement at this, knowing that her father always goes for paths that would ensure a high profit, though seeing him be humbled by powers greater than his own still put a smile on her face, Blake herself also thrilled at the Faunus working for the SDC finally getting the rights they deserve, and also being allowed to work and pursue new paths in life.

Then the girls turned to ask another question, yet it seemed like their host had some psychic power to tell what they were going to say.

"Racist humans angry about Faunus getting rights, began rioting in all kingdoms, outside countries help, many riots put down and tons of people arrested, racists then come together becoming human supremacist organization called Red Hand, replace White Fang as main terrorist threat. They are not as big as the White Fang and their numbers are not as high, but have many people from all over Remnant, mostly from Atlas and Mistral, have more advanced weapons and equipment compared to Fang, due to Scientists from Atlas joining them, and they also have a large elite force made of rouge huntsmen, from huntsmen in training to Veteran huntsmen, all racist, all deadly. They fight for supremacy and vengeance, wont stop even if Grimm are still a threat, fought world, your team in that reality fight their soldiers and rouge huntsmen on many occasions, more difficult than fighting White Fang due to advanced weapons and murderous rouge huntsmen." The host said this, giving them a basic idea as to the threat in that reality, and the enemy that their selves in that reality face.

The four girls of RWBY observe this information as they learned about the threat faced by the Remnant of the reality they witnessed, then Wiess spoke. "So, what was the reason for showing us all of that, your past, the Red Hand, that lesson about huntsmen having to kill, what was the point of all of that."

"It was for preparation and desensitization," spoke the host, "for you see in order to be able to once again view your own reality once more, we need to peer into several realities that share a Causal Pattern with the interference in your reality. Quick note, a Causal Pattern is the background dimensional energy pattern that is linked to each separate reality, and there are a number of such patterns currently linked to your reality and I will tell you now, these realities don't pull their punches."

"Meaning what that these are like bad realities or something," Yang said, getting the meaning.

"Yes and no, these realities while not inherently bad do have points that are very hard and sometimes outright vicious to the specific individual, either at the beginning, at points throughout or even along the whole of the 'journey', with the only saving grace that the ending of these journeys end at best on a true good ending and at worst on a positive bittersweet ending," their host told them, suddenly getting a very saddened and distant look in her eyes, "some of those that rescued me, and helped me when I was almost killed, you'll be seeing them in this, and not just you, as we go along this viewing, others will arrive, all of whom have a level of importance in your reality and thus are key to ensuring that we see the viewing of these realities through to the end, some you know very well, some you may know and others who are important later on had events progressed as they should have."

It was Wiess that spoke up then, "wait a minute, your saying that if we look at these realities, the ones that are somehow linked to our own, then we can see what is happening to our world, how would tha-!"

"You and your friends are one of the central figures in your reality, one of the individuals who will play a vital role in the very history of your civilization and your reality itself, this creates a link that connects you deeply to your reality, a link that we can use to essentially unclutter the mess that now keeps your reality obscured." The host spoke, having interrupted Wiess but not stopping her explanation, "by viewing the realities shown, it will allow you and thus the reality your linked to, to essentially make sense of what is happening thus allowing the clutter to be made sense of and thus allow us to peer into your reality to both find out what's wrong and even do something about what has happened. Also, the more individuals who view these realities, the more we can make sense of the interference and what is happening."

The girls of RWBY looked at one another, taking in everything said to them, though not understanding a few points they got the larger parts of what their host was talking about, and gave their answer.

"Alright, we'll look at these other reality things, if it will help with finding out what happened, and also finding Jaune," Ruby spoke to their host, firm in her resolve to discover what happened to the boy she considered a close friend.

"Then lets begin, also apologies need to be made, I didn't tell you my name when we began, I was pretty focused on getting everything across, Mirai Noire, that is the name I go by," the now named Mirai told them, "and now we look at the lives of the realities that center around the individual once known as, or have a direct relation with Jaune Arc."

The girls of Ruby looked at Mirai, who looked at the three and stated, "lets just say that in all of these realities, many things change around Jaune in these realities, and Jaune himself ends up experiencing quite a noticeable change to his existence or his life, usually in ways neither he nor others ever see coming, so be prepared to see quite a few unorthodox things, unorthodox means things that are not normal in the way society or humanity sees as normal."

Then the screen started to flicker, but then it suddenly switched to a symbol, one Mirai knew all too well.

"First though, it appears that we have some new company, so why don't we all go and greet them," Mirai stated, getting up and moving to the main entry hallway, team RWBY right behind her.

The wall of the room oriented itself to become an opening, the material simply forming into polygon blocks and merging into the wall, revealing the new arrivals, with RWBY surprised by the new arrivals and vice versa.

"Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos welcome to the Quanta Aeterna," stated Mirai, "unlike with team RWBY I will tell you who I am, Mirai Noire, host of the events to come, and I wish to ask you only one thing."

Nora was about ready to make a statement, but headshakes from team RWBY and a hand on her shoulder from Ren held her back from saying what it was quite obvious to those who know her she would say.

"Yes Nora, to answer your question we do have the baked confection you call pancakes here, along with toppings and syrup, there are sloths here but they are kept in the nature preservation area of the Megastructure and are for letting live freely, not for treating as a pet and being handled by non-trained hands, of which we all know you were not trained to handle them," the girl said with a very accusatory glare pointed at Nora, who while happy for the pancakes was a bit upset at the girl for thinking she would hurt her favorite animal but kept it down for now, still happy knowing they were here. "Is it now okay if I tell you the question now, please, it does have a lot to do with why you are all here."

"Okay, lets hear it," Nora spoke, a bit upset at the accusation, but she did want to hear what she had to say.

"Okay then, well my question is …"

"Are you familiar with the name … **Jaune Arc**."

* * *

_**Author Note- **_

_**It is done, the second chapter of the story, also I am pretty set on what I wish to put in the story, though any new ideas are welcome, though my main ideas for the story are what go, though I still hope you enjoy my work.**_

_**Aeos React Signing out-**_


	3. Chapter 3

**To those who may recognize what is shown, I own none of the sources of what you read, should you recognize them.**

Chapter 2 – IMAGE I, Awakened

The members of team _NPR, after getting through the painful reaction that was the realization of failing to recall the leader of their own team, though like RWBY also felt something amiss, were then given the overview of what RWBY learned, the knowledge of their realities fate, what they may have to see to find out what had happened to their world, and what exactly it all entailed.

"So, in order to find out what happened to Remnant, and to our leader," Ren stated, "we have to look at realities that are linked to the reason why we are here and why we cannot see our world from here."

"In the most basic of terms, yes," Mirai stated, "we were just about to start viewing the first reality when you arrived, and Nora's pancake-based desires reminded me as well."

Then the room shifted slightly, and multiple, comfortable recliner type chairs appeared, a cube on either side of the chairs, two rectangular openings on the wall appeared, next to them appeared the stick figure outline of a man and a woman showing the openings to be bathrooms, then several other openings appeared as well, eight in total, six were numbered with dorms 1-6, one said dining area, the final said recreation.

"You will all be here for a while, so certain facilities are now prepared for the long stay, including clothes, undergarments, toiletries, bedding and the like, a dining area where we will eat during evening hours, which aren't for a couple more hours, and a recreation area to either train yourselves, play games, or whatever you consider fun," Mirai stated to them, then pointed to the chairs, "the chairs are fully reclining and have cushioning that only those considered unimaginably wealthy can afford."

"Oh, I am going to test that out right no-oooOOOAAAAHHHH," Nora sat on her chair and just sagged into the seat, "oh gods this feels amazing."

Then by a thought, the chair started to vibrate around the parts of her body that felt sore, she felt herself melt with how it felt.

"OHHHH-YEEEAAAAHHHH, this … is … GLORIOUS," Nora stated as she just melted into the chair, then she thought something else, and on the cube on her right, appeared a stack of chocolate chip-blueberry pancakes with whipped cream and a cherry on top, Nora eyeing the glorious confection with barely contained hunger, and on her left she saw a cool refreshing glass of orange juice.

While Nora began to eat her beloved pancakes and drinking the orange juice so as not to choke, the others looked at all this with very wide-eyed and expectant looks.

"Yeah, thought controlled seats, intelligent mass transmission array for transporting foods and items, also uses thoughts, but only a strong image of the desired item, not a vague thought, took a while to fix that issue," Mirai stated to the gathered individuals, "so yeah, this system basically gets you what you want, and allows you to view in comfort, and what are you waiting for the seats are right there, go get them."

Ruby, Wiess, Blake, Yang, Ren and Pyrrha did just that, they all but melted into the seats, and were shocked at one thing.

"PUUURRRRR"

All of them slowly turned to Blake, who was now covering her mouth with her hands, her face beet red at what she just uttered from her mouth.

"Cats show their love of comfort by purring in happiness, the greater the comfort, the greater the chance they will purr, also Blake everyone here known you're a cat Faunus, no shame in it, also your ribbon isn't on your head anymore, likely was one of the things not transported over either," Mirai stated, Blake shocked at realizing that her ears had been out for everyone to see all along.

"No one here thinks bad of your ears or is a racist, I myself included," Mirai stated to Blake, who seeing the approving nods of her friends calmed down, "actually I find your ears and the overall look they give you quite cute, and I am of the minority of individuals who see 'cuteness as justice, but that's me, and quite a startling amount of other individuals who would honestly call you cute Blake and mean it."

Blake became a bit flustered at this, but Mirai continued with the discussion.

"Well then, when we start the viewing, there will be times where you will likely want to comment on the happenings of the realities we will be viewing, so the viewing will have certain pauses to allow you to make your comments, also as I stated before the realities we see will have some parts that may not like seeing, but are part of the reality overall so I am afraid you will just need to accept what you see, or don't, it's all your choice honestly, and unfortunately for many alternate Arc's we will be seeing, a choice that wasn't theirs to make," Mirai stated bluntly to them, "also another word of caution, for in all these realities, while it will start with the Jaune Arc you are familiar with …"

… they all end with Arc being either altered into, or sometimes succeeded by someone drastically different."

"Wait, a minute," Pyrrha stated, "altered, succeeded, what happens to Jaune, what does that mean."

"It means that the journey either ends up with the Jaune Arc you know being changed, quite drastically I might add, by the events that occur in their journeys, or are succeeded by another or others who will carry on their path in his stead," stated Mirai, "also the changes do not take away from the fact that the ending, or usually endings of their journey at least all end on at worst a more positive note than most others, especially those Arcs that were truly altered by their journeys in a very negative direction and ended up either bringing a bad ending or an unacceptable ending."

"Question," Ruby said, "what's the difference between a bad end and an unacceptable end."

"A bad end is where there were all options to secure even a positive bittersweet end either did not work, were all sabotaged in some way, or were considered too late, and if the focus of that reality is in fact working towards the realization of such an ending, usually by a warped, broken or truly irredeemable individual." Mirai then goes on to explain the other ending, "an unacceptable ending is essentially where everything ends in a bad end not because there were no options, or the character was truly evil or irredeemable. Rather it is due to short-sightedness, no desire for compromise, the foolishness of a characters ideals, and other such points that lead to an bad end that should have easily been avoidable, if the individuals of the 'journey' had taken the time to consider their options, make compromises, get all opinions across, even simply talking things through, but they don't, they make all the wrong decisions and the bad end is the result."

"Huh, I never really thought of it like that," Blake thought, remembering some of her books, "there were some points when I was reading where I thought that there was a way the characters could have done something much easier or resolved a fight better, yet it always felt like they were just making decisions that just led to more problems."

"Oh, trust me Blake, that happens a lot, from the same incidents being repeated with an easily predictable pattern, to characters essentially going in circles performing the same actions that get them into trouble without ever really learning from the mistake and continue to repeat the same thing," Mirai stated remembering multiple such 'journeys' where such events took place, "I believe those events can fall under the overused trope of a 'running gag', where similar incidents take place in a story for the sake of humor, and 'recurring elements' in which such tropes are used multiple times throughout a story where events occur within almost predictable points during the story."

"Also I do believe we have been putting off viewing the 'journeys' that need to be seen for quite long enough I believe," Mirai stated to them, "so, shall we take our seats and begin the viewing, to see the alternate lives of the Jaune you know change to something different."

"That part still confuses me," Pyrrha stated, "how exactly does Jaune change, and why is this change such a major point here."

Mirai fixes Pyrrha with a very focused gaze, "oh trust Miss Nikos, once you see these changes, you and any others who are here or may arrive later, will know why."

Mirai then let the screen expand to take up most of the wall of their 'theater', while some of the girls got some snacks and drinks using the cubes.

The screen shifted, leading to a wavering pattern of four luminous points of light circling the center of the screen, then coalesce at the center, and then expand outward to the corners of the screen, and the image appeared, allowing RWBY, NPR and Mirai to view the first reality of Jaune Arc.

* * *

**Jaune Arc, currently a student at Beacon Academy, having gotten in even though his transcripts were falsified, was in fact truly enjoying his time at Beacon Academy.**

**Through the school year he had made many close friends, helped them and other students with problems they may have had, with the one he helped mostly being a girl from team CFVY, Velvet Scarlatina when Cardin gave her trouble, though it ended up being trouble, for him though his team did have his back.**

**The relationship between his teammates, their fellow team RWBY and himself had a rocky patch when he came clean with his transcripts, they were a bit upset at that, but he had fought and stood by them so they let it go, though Wiess was still a bit upset about it, for her own personal reasons.**

* * *

"Considering what I needed to go through to get into Beacon, why wouldn't I be upset," Wiess fumed remembering when Jaune came clean regarding his transcripts, then she huffed and calmed down, "but he did at least prove himself a few times so I kept my complaints to myself."

The others nodded in agreement, Jaune having proved that he had what it took to be in Beacon.

* * *

**Though there were some bad spots, he still managed to pull through it all with the help of his teammates, he managed to pull through many of his predicaments, thanks to the teaching Pyrrha gave him, the encouragement and aide of Nora and Ren, and even some support from the member of team RWBY, even Wiess surprisingly, he was truly happy with his current life as a huntsman-in-training.**

**They had all finished their first semester, and he went to go visit his family who had originally been against him becoming a hunter, but seeing their son so happy and having an excellent team to support him, they soon found themselves encouraging their son to continue, which filled Jaune with a strong sense of Pride, even his sisters were happy with his choice, all seven of them.**

* * *

**PSSSSHHHHHH**

A rather loud spit take came from Yang, incredulous at what she heard.

"'cough' 'cough', s-seven, he has seven sisters," Yang said as the others were also stunned to hear that statement.

"Huh, I guess that's why he got used to living and being around us so quickly," Ren said, "having me as his brother figure must have been a change of pace for him, and with that many girls around you he must have not had a problem being in the same room with other girls with that level of femininity in his life."

"Quite so Ren," Mirai stated, "essentially living with his sisters allowed him to easily get used to being much calmer in the presence of other women, though not entirely, though also having that large a family would lead to trouble with finding a relationship, which is also why he has such a poor grasp on Romance, which I'm pretty sure he just read in a romance book he found in the library."

The two teams thought back to all the times he tried to romance Wiess, and thought that yes, it did all seem to be something one would find in a book.

* * *

**As the break wound to a close, Jaune prepared to head back to Beacon, something came up in his hometown of Arcadia, a rather large town that was founded by his family many years before his time, with a small report that a pack of Beowolves had been sighted near the town, and there was a request to eliminate them.**

**Jaune took up the request seeing it as an excellent opportunity to test his newly acquired skills and as something to tell his friends about when he got back to Beacon.**

**He soon left Arcadia and ventured to where the Beowolves were last sighted, making his way to where they were, soon finding five of them all looking about, trying to find something to kill.**

"**Alright, lets do this," Jaune psyched himself up, and then, he charges at the first beowolf.**

"**HAAH," Jaune yells as he cuts down the first Beowolf, "that's one."**

**Then he moves to the side as another beowolf swings its claw at him, barely missing before Jaune drove his sword into its chest, striking its heart and killing it, "that's two."**

**Then he uses his shield to block an attack from the third while fourth tried to get him from behind, only for Jaune to pull a surprising spin technique that allowed him to, almost gracefully avoid the strike from the fourth which struck and killed the third before he then severed its head with his sword as it stared surprised.  
**

"**Three and four," Jaune said as he looked at the fading Grimm, "huh, who knew those dancing lessons my mom made me take would come in handy."**

* * *

"Fearless leader can dance," Nora stated, surprised at this bit of knowledge.

"Not in all realities, but in a several he does take some other activities up when his parents encouraged him for one reason or another to take up a career other than being a huntsman," Mirai stated to them.

Mirai noticed all of them looking at her, and stated, "why else do you think he got those fake transcripts in the first place, in pretty much nearly all realities, his parents didn't want him to be a huntsman even though it was what he desired the most, which usually forces him to get the fake transcripts to get into Beacon as his only other available option, true fact, really."

The group took this in, realizing how Jaune never backed down from anything they did, no matter how tough it was, so entirely focused on being a huntsman, not even considering giving up, even Wiess started to see Jaune in a new light.

* * *

"**Alright," Jaune stated, turning to the last Beowolf, "now just one … more?"**

**He then noticed the beowolf wasn't looking at him, but rather, it was looking in a random direction, then it took off in that direction, with Jaune soon giving chase.**

**The chase went deep into a dark part of the forest, before ending at a small cave, in which the beowolf entered, with close behind, ready to enter when …**

… **KI-PIIIIINNNGGGGG**

**A loud sound and strong, yet brief burst of light echoed from the cave, with Jaune startled by the sudden flash.**

* * *

"What the heck was that," Yang stated, stunned by the sudden flash.

"Ow," Blake said, the flash having been released in the now darkened room.

* * *

**Jaune slowly approached the cave, sheathing Crocea Mors in his sheath as he entered, seeing two things as he wandered into the cave.**

**One was the slowly fading beowolf, having been blasted into the wall by something.**

**Second was what Jaune guessed was the something that blasted the beowolf.**

**At first glance, it seemed to be a pile of black metal scraps that were worked into some strange little art piece, but a brief flash and the flaps of the small object spreading out, giving it the look of an metallurgist/artists interpretation of the of the sun, with six long pointed points on a ring with some small points along it, the ring surrounding a central sphere with a dark lens in the center, white light blinking out from the lens.**

"**Huh, what is this," Jaune stated as he picked up the strange object.**

* * *

"Uh-uh, no Jaune, don't pick up the weird object," Blake stated, "I've read enough to know that picking up strange objects leads to something bad happening."

The others were also worried as they saw Jaune pick up the strange object, worried about what would happen.

* * *

**Jaune held the object up, noting that there didn't seem to be any connection between the ring and the sphere, yet the sphere and ring did not separate, some unknown force holding the two in place.**

**Looking at the object, Jaune saw many small little indents that appeared to be writing on parts of the objects surface, then a flicker from the main lens drew his attention.**

"**Man, what the heck is th-!"**

**The lens then lit up with a ring of pale white light, and a flash burst forth from the center of the ring.**

**KAP-IIIINNNNNGGGGG**

**Jaune was rendered near blind by the flash, and suddenly had an almost crippling headache as the flash pierced deep into his head, leaving his mind a jumbled and broken mess as his vision swam, leaving little for him to recognize.**

**Yet as his vision returned, and the headache slowly subsided, he then started to see and feel again what was going on … around … him.**

"**When did I sit down," Jaune asked aloud, "in a chair?"**

"**Why is it now completely dark?"**

"**Wasn't I in in the forest, why am I in a r-GAAH!"**

**Then the lights came on, revealing a room with two large windows on either side of a moderately large room, with the chair facing the only door, the door being a military type metal door, the type the slides up when opening and slides down when closing, and the whole room was heavily worn, a few cracks in the glass, the room having the look of not being cleaned in a while, also a desk with several computer terminals and CPU towers on one wall.**

**Yet it was the strange blotches on the floors and walls that worried Jaune, the dark stains being a deep black color, yet to Jaunes relief it wasn't blood that caused the stains …**

… **to his HORROR though, he saw as the dark liquid dripped out of strange structures resembling large growths, either on the walls or stuck INTO the computer equipment, with the CPU towers seeming to 'bleed' out onto the floor, the black liquid dripping from the growths, and as Jaune turned to the rooms he saw one room was open, had some of the strange black, metallic growths in the room, though the incredibly dim light made it difficult to see much of the room ….**

… **the OTHER room however, he wished he could not see AT ALL!**

**The 'room' was completely overrun with almost tree trunk sized veins of the dark material, the floor and walls of the room torn up as the veins tore through the room, sinking back into the walls, the veins having what appeared to be long cables woven in the veins, the cables dripping with the black fluid, either hardening into the veins and even morphing into new cables or sharp spikes of metal that sunk into the floor.**

**Jaune looked at this in horrified silence at what he had only thought existed in either science fiction/horror movies or some of his darkest and most terrible nightmares.**

* * *

The looks of adject horror at the sheer nightmare scenario that was now very apparent on the faces of the group, minus Mirai who was just a bit disturbed.

"What … in the gods names … is THAT!" Wiess spoke, looking at the nightmare image from the mind of a disturbed sci-fi/horror writer.

"I forewarned you that the realities we would be seeing would not be pulling punches," Mirai stated to them, "so expect there to be quite a number of things in these realities that will be quite difficult to swallow, and will range from horrible to disturbing, but what will need to be seen if the fate of your reality is to be known."

The group, still disturbed by what they saw, all nodded, they did want to know what was happening to their reality, and if it meant seeing some difficult things, then they would do it.

"Though I will warn you ahead of time, that you will see something quite … disturbing and a bit horrifying later on, just a fair warning," Mirai warned the group.

The group took her advice to heart and steeled themselves as best they could for what was to come.

(It wouldn't help anyway)

* * *

**Jaune then tried to get up from where he sat, but found his body weighed a substantial amount, his legs feeling like lead, his arms feeling quite heavy, and his arms feeling like they were pressed by heavy lead weights.**

**As Jaune began struggling to move his arms and legs, a shadow seemed to settle in the room, Jaune himself trying to lift his arms when he felt something was in front of him.**

**He turned to face the front …**

… **and almost literally in his face was what seemed to be a large vein with a dark, non-reflective, semi-spherical lens at its tip, the tip and lens in his face, and in the lens were two rings of light, with a small spot at the center, the light a pale white, reminding Jaune of the strange devi-!**

"**So, you are, awake now," the rings of the lens wobbled like rippling waves as a voice, neither male nor female, came from a speaker located at the edge of the room, Jaune noticing a cable from the speaker went into the vein that was in front of him, "how are you feeling as of right now, any problems with your thinking, sudden bouts of anger, something unnatural in your thinking, besides feeling of annoyance, worry at your current situation, or the incessant desire to figure out what is going on."**

**Jaune, who realized he was having those feelings, and was being told this by the strange vein, just responded with, "besides those things … no, not really," Jaune didn't know why, but he decided to answer truthfully.**

"**Good, then your mental processes are all in good order, that's a relief at least," the vein then projected a holographic circle that had random numbers and strange letters Jaune didn't recognize, and then it ran the circle over Jaune's body, with flashes of data appearing through the circle as it passed over Jaunes body, then the circle was centered in front of the vein, with it looking over the date it gathered, but what it said began to worry Jaune, greatly.**

"**Okay, according to this overall structural integrity is at about 63%, multiple breaks in nerve link throughout the body, link in right arm and leg connections to main and tertiary synapse are poor, link in left leg should be looked at, visual and auditory processes are working good, and endo-frame is stable with no real issue, nothing a quick trip to Weaver can't fix up, so far we are looking good for-!"**

"**Uh, what are you talking about, what does all that mean," Jaune said, now quite confused.**

**The vein said nothing, the circles in its lens pulsing once, as it then looked at Jaune directly.**

"**Who are you, what is your identity," it spoke to Jaune as it gazed almost into his soul, the sudden serious tone not willing to accept anything but an answer.**

"**M-my name, its Jaune, Jaune Arc," Jaune proclaimed to the vein, "I am Jaune Arc."**

**The vein looked at him.**

"**No, you're not."**

**The vein stated to him, and it spoke in serious tone like what it said was complete fact.**

"**What," Jaune said confused, "what do you mean I'm not."**

"**Who are you, answer me truthfully now," the vein spoke again.**

"**What!" Jaune was feeling a bit annoyed bat gave the answer again, "what are you talking about, I am Jaune A**_**r**_**c?"**

**It was right there, right then that Jaune began to feel something was wrong, for a moment, his voice had changed just slightly, becoming slightly higher pitched and with a slight electronic warble to it.**

"**W-what, what was," Jaune was now a bit more worried, then the vein asked again.**

"**Tell me with absolute assurance, are. You. Jaune. Arc," the vein sounded now even more serious than it did before, "answer."**

"**It's the truth, that is who I am," Jaune was now quite agitated but answered anyway, "I am, beyond any doubt J**_**au**_**n**_**e**__**Ar**_**c!"**

**In that last moment, the voice that sounded at the end was less his own voice, and instead sounded more like the voice of a girl speaking through a poor quality speaker, at medium volume, but that began to get Jaune severely worried at what was going on.**

"**What, what i**_**s**_** e**_**ven **_**ha**_**ppe**_**ni**_**ng**_**," the female sounding voice was becoming clearer as jaune spoke, the strangeness of the voice itself and the electronic edge that came with the voice left Jaune incredibly worried and deeply disturbed.**

* * *

"Okay, this is getting a bit weird, and scary," Ruby said, the sudden change of Jaunes voice and the vein itself, and how it seemed to be doing something regarding Jaune.

"What is that creepy metal, snake/worm, thing doing to Jaune-jaune," Nora said, worried about what happened to her leader.

Pyrrha was quite blatantly worried about what was happening to her crush, her face pale at what was happening.

* * *

"**You need to calm down, otherwise your neural coding will become damaged from your outburst," the vein told the agitated Jaune, "I can give you the answer to what is happening but I need you calm for that to happen."**

"**C**_**al**_**m, y**_**o**_**u w**_**an**_**t m**_**e**__**cal**_**m," Jaune got up and moved to the vein, "**_**wh**_**a**_**t**_** di**_**d**__**yo**_**u do t**_**o**__**m**_**-!"**

**A sharp tug on his now moving arms legs and back made him very aware of something that should not be there, and looked at his arms …**

… **eyes widening in horror at long cables that were put into his arms, the points piercing his skin, and saw that more cables were piercing his legs through his pants, some of the cables being similar to the ones dripping the black liquid, and as he felt behind him, his horror grew even more palpable as he felt a thick cable embedded in his back, and one that was going into the back of his head!**

"**Ha**_**ah**_**, **_**ha**_**ah, **_**ha**_**ah, wh**_**at**_** … **_**i**_**s … ha**_**ppe**_**-!"**

**VZZ, VZZ**

**Jaune had been looking at his arm, his mind in a rictus of chaos, and then, for but a moment like a scroll monitor suffering a glitch, his vision seemed to stutter like that of a faulty view screen.**

**In that moment, his arm … changed, from his usual simple, male arm, to a markedly female one, that was meshed with many cables, metal components, and dark veins like the dark liquid.**

**NO**

**Jaune jolted back, the terror, horror and disgust now permeating through his body, a massive freak out building beneath the surface as he struggled to try and make sense of it all, while trying to deny the possibility of something horrible having happened.**

"**Okay," the vein said, as it appeared before Jaune, who now looked at the thing like a terrible monster, "I have had to go through this over 269 times already, but I have managed to help the others pull through, and I will help you pull through this."**

**Then a long rectangular shape on an industrial type robotic manipulator moved down from the ceiling, the arm making it so that the other side of the large rectangle was not facing his direction.**

"**It is better to realize the reality of ones situation than to allow ones mental strain to grow worse from ignorance," the vein looked close at Jaune, then pulled back, and moved the arm with the rectangle in front of Jaune, "it will be easier to explain the full depths of your condition and situation if you are made aware of your present reality, so …"**

**It turns the rectangle to Jaune, revealing it to be a clear, two-meter-tall, one-meter-wide mirror.**

"… **this is your present reality."**

**At first, Jaune saw himself in the mirror, the wires lagging behind him, weaving through the chair he had been on and leading to a large socket on the wall, with what seemed to a large battery of some kind inside of it, a readout on the side showing the charge at forty-three percent. This left Jaune confused, as he saw nothing wrong with hi-!**

**VVZZ**

**For a moment, his vision warbled, and his body seemed to shudder like the image on a defective screen.**

**VZZVZZ**

**His vision warped again, and his body seemed to, glitch, for no better term.**

**VZZVZZVZZZ**

**His vision viciously glitched, this time, Jaune caught, for an instant, his body morph to something horrific in that instant.**

… **no …**

**He slowly approached the mirror, his body shuddering, glitching slightly as he slowly approached, horror and fear, pulsing through his mind.**

… **no …**

**He reached his hand out, the glitching now taking up most of his vision, warping the image of his body, his physical form now blurred by the glitching.**

… **no … no … no …**

**Jaune pressed his hand on the glass, the glitching now becoming more erratic, and in some portions, the glitching seemed to glitch portions of his body very briefly, showing a sort of metal-flesh macabre underneath, until it returned to normal.**

…**.. **_**no**_** ….**

**The glitching ceased, and the mirror seemed to show the visage of Jaunes normal, everyday self, and slowly, he felt his mind calm, grasping onto the small glimmer of hope that this was just a bad dream, and that he was fine …**

**VZZVZZVZZZ**

… **only for that small glimmer …**

**VZZVZZVZZZZ**

… **to be viciously …**

**VZZZZVZZZXXX**

… **torn away.**

**VZZVZZVZZZZZXXXXSSSSSHHHHHHCCKKKK-SNAP**

**With that sudden final glitch, the image of his body, of his hope that it was nothing but a dream, fell away.**

**In place of it, in the mirror, was a horrific, nightmarish macabre of machinery merged to flesh, muscle exposed in patches with tangles bundles of veins interwoven, metal shards and pieces covering portions of arms, legs and torso, with large openings in the skin showing connecting wires, metal bone replacements and veins all merged throughout the body of what would have been a rather nice looking girl in her early-twenties, with all the important portions done away due to the black material seeming to blur these parts out, though the horror of the form eliminated any arousing thoughts. That and the entire body was dripping the black fluid from every opening in the body onto the floor.**

**The body was one thing, but the face … oh gods, the face.**

**Half still held the original face of the body, showing a young visage with soft light tan skin, now marred with veins of the black liquid running through it, a single eye with pale grey scelera, though a prosthetic as it had a circular pattern similar to what the lens on the large vein had in it, and a white point at the center, the hair being a charcoal color, all in all not really bad looking.**

**Until one saw the other side, with the other half of the head gone, replaced by a metallic device that seemed to be a thick metal ring that would just barely fit into the head if it was still there, with four portions jutting out, giving the ring a sort of hollowed cross-like shape, and in the center was a dark lens-like sphere, suspended in the center by an unknown force as there were no physical connections holding the sphere. Veins, wires and metal components also took up the space that was once occupied by the other half of the face and head.**

**This was all taken in, in under two point six seconds, and when it all hit, there was only one real response …**

**Agh … aGH … AAA**_**GHHH**_** … AAAAAAAA**_**AAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!**_

* * *

The response from the viewers, is what one would expect.

Horror and pandemonium

"AAAAGGHHHH," Nora shrieked, jumping into Ren's arms, who also released an, ahem, 'manly retort of fear (screamed like a frightened schoolgirl)' while holding tightly onto Nora.

"OH MY GODS, WHAT THE HELL EVEN IS THAT," Wiess screeched at the horrifying visage of what was Jaune, then she turned to see Ruby getting ready to lose her meal, which had been three (nervously eaten) plates of chocolate chip cookies, and a thought from Wiess materialized a bin with the words 'waste disposal' on the side, "IN HERE RUBY, IN HERE."

Wiess held Ruby as the girl proceeded to 'toss her cookies' into the bin, the poor girl having taken the scene quite badly as she kept emptying out the contents of her stomach, until she calmed down, and pressed herself to Wiess's chest for any form of comfort, which Wiess shockingly allowed …

… even though her clothes were now stained by Ruby's barf.

"NO, HELL NO, YOU DON'T FUCKING PULL THIS SHIT, THIS IS GOING WAY TO FAR," Yang yelled out as she held close a shuddering and terrified cat Faunus who clung to the buxom brawler in a death grip, "THERE ARE LIMITS OKAY, THERE ARE LIMITS."

"THUD"

They all turned to the sound, and saw Pyrrha splayed out on the ground, her eyes having rolled into the back of her head, foam coming out of her mouth out of stark terror.

In an instant, Mirai types several commands into a holo-screen, and a barrier appeared above Wiess and Ruby, coming down and cleaning off the barf from them, leaving them quite clean, and a bucket of ice water was dumped on Pyrrha, startling her awake before an energy ring passed over her, removing the splashed water while doing no harm to her.

"I distinctly recall saying that we would be seeing things you would not like and that these realities were not going to start nice," Mirai stated to them, making them remember her earlier warning, "I had forewarned all of you that these realities are not going to start good, only end good, and I am afraid that said 'good ending' is still very far off, so we can either finish this current viewing or we can argue, your choice."

The arranged group wanted to say something regarding what happened, but the sharp 'no dumb questions' gaze Mirai had made them realize they didn't really have any good questions, so they slowly got back to their seats.

The viewing continued along.

* * *

_**AAAGGGHHHH**_

_**AAAUUUGGGGHHH**_

_**AAAGGGHH-AAAUUUGGGHHHH**_

**Jaune was now completely hysterical, looking between his horrific visage in the mirror, and his own warped arms and legs, the whole thing being too much for his now frazzled mind to handle, his voice now completely replaced by a warped, female voice with an electronic echo as I backed up to the wall, the mirror still following me as it was guided to me by the mechanical aperture.**

_**AUUGGHH, AUUUHH, UHHH, UHHH**_

**My screams soon gave way to cries as I felt the terror wear off, soon replaced by mournful cries as he felt despair take hold of him, his realization and the presence of the mirror only adding to the despair curling around what Jaune wasn't sure was a heart or a battery, the thought of his current inhumanity only making him/her/ it?**

**The thought of whatever it was only added to it, as it was a man's mind trapped in the warped, machine driven body of a girl, the absurdity of it would have been slightly humorous if it was not happening to it.**

"**You are not an it," Jaune(?) turned to see the Vein as it gazed at it, "I have met far too many who tried to ruin themselves with that type of thinking, but right now I can only say this …"**

"… **let it out."**

**It looked confused at first, but as the feeling of despair continued, it felt the urge to either cry out or to viciously break something, despair and anger soon roiling together in its m-!**

**CLANG**

**On the floor, dropped directly in front of it …**

… **was a metal sledgehammer.**

* * *

Immediately, everyone went very still at this.

"No Jaune, no," Ruby spoke, a terrible thought coming out of this.

"Fearless leader, I don't know if you can hear this, and I can say this is very hypocritical coming from me as well as knowing big words, but there are situations where you do and do not smash, and this is a big do not moment here," Nora stated, realizing what such a scene implied.

"Jaune," Pyrrha gazed at the altered form of the one she cared for, "no."

* * *

**The being that was once Jaune could only look down at the sledgehammer, tears of dark fluid falling from its eye and the lens on its head, as well as dripping down from its body.**

**Then it looked back at the Vein.**

"**The mirror, the items in this room, or myself, I will not stop," the Vein spoke to Jaune(?) as it looked at it, "I will not blame you for the action you take, I merely am offering a way to release what is pent up within you, and if it is me who suffers for it, then it was for the best …"**

… **I am just a machine after all.****"**

**It looked at the Vein, the same Vein that woke it to this warped reality, the Vein that was probably the cause for its current predicament, the thing that made it aware of its current existence by shoving this fact almost literally in its face.**

**It didn't know when it had moved to stand over the Vein …**

… **or why it was now holding the sledgehammer in its hands.**

**Yet it just felt the roiling waves of frustration and anger, anger that was pointed at this machine construct, the thing hat was likely the reason for its current predicament, and why it was now essentially a monstrous amalgamation.**

**It had a right to be angry, it knew that what happened to it was nightmarish and cruel, and yet …**

… **felt like this was wrong, and that it was wrong.**

"**If you are going to strike me down, aim your blow here if you would," then a part of the Vein opened itself, revealing the familiar shape of the hollowed cross with the lens sphere, the sphere glowing with a dim light as it was revealed, "this is my neural core, my 'brain' if you will, strike this and I will go down quite handily, though if you want to destroy other portion of my frame, I will not offer any defense."**

**The Vein turned downward, opening the point with the device up further, "If breaking me will help your mental condition, so be it, I am simply a machine, specifically a terminal based system for observation, analysis and conversation, with minor administrative clearance to this facility, and almost solely to this room."**

**It slightly turned up to look at Jaune, looking at the amalgam of machine and flesh as it looked with frustration, or what it could muster as frustration since it only had half a recognizable face.**

"**So if you wish to destroy me, you are entirely free to do so, it is all up to you," the Vein spoke, now speaking in a less robotic tone, and now speaking in the voice of an intelligent young woman, the tone with an air of maturity around it.**

**It (Jaune) couldn't fathom what was happening, in front of it was basically a machine, a simple device, like a scroll or a holo-desk, some simple machine as he knew it.**

**He also knew that he was wrong.**

**It took a good look at itself; it saw how far the mechanical components and the black fluid ran through the flesh parts of the body it inhabited, that what drove the body was not the flesh, but the machine.**

* * *

"Okay, I am going to say that I have no idea what's going on," Nora stated, "is Jaune now a girl and a machine, and why is he, she, it … GAHH, it's all so confusing!"

Nora's tirade was silently shared among the other viewers, as they themselves were also incredibly confused by the current state of the boy/girl/robot?

* * *

**It knew that what was in front of it was a machine, something that eventually broke all the time, or was thrown out when not needed anymore.**

**The amalgam slowly lowered the sledgehammer, just letting the hammer fall to the ground, slamming onto the metal floor, and as the Vein looked up to its face.**

'**DRIP-DRIP-DRIP'**

**The dripping was near incessant in the room, from the veins or the growths and the amalgams body, yet it was not these drips that drew the Veins attention, it was two sources that were coming from the amalgam.**

**One was a line of liquid pooling down one side of the amalgams face from the hollowed cross, and the other fell from its eye, streaming down its face which was twisted in a sad and frustrated look.**

"_**I**__**kn**_**e**_**w**_**," it stated, its voice cracking from distortion and sadness, "**_**I**__**do**_**n't **_**kno**_**w h**_**ow**_**, bu**_**t**__**I**__**kne**_**w, p**_**robab**_**ly fr**_**om**__**the **_**start, I **_**just**__**some**_**how kn**_**ew**__**I**__**wa**_**sn't **_**Jau**_**ne **_**Ar**_**c, I **_**had**_** t**_**ha**_**t **_**fee**_**ling **_**fro**_**m th**_**e**_** s**_**tart**_** th**_**at**_** I w**_**asn't**_** act**_**ually**_** hi**_**m**_**, **_**bu**_**t I **_**jus**_**t **_**wan**_**te**_**d**_**, **_**to**_** a**_**t**__**lea**_**s**_**t**_** p**_**rete**_**n**_**d**__**everythi**_**ng **_**was**_** n**_**ormal**_**, **_**tha**_**t **_**this**_** w**_**as**__**nothin**_**g b**_**ut**_** s**_**ome**__**nightmar**_**e, **_**or**__**some**_** s**_**ick**__**joke**_**."**

"**What do you believe this is, what do you think and feel right now," the Vein spoke, a calming and concerned female voice coming through.**

**It, the amalgam, just looked at the Vein, liquid streaming down its face as it looked in a slightly shocked manner, then its face slowly distorted, the visible human half clenching its liquid stained teeth as it felt a deep anguish rising up from beneath.**

"**Wh**_**at**_** d**_**o**__**I believe**_**," came its frustrated voice, and then …**

… **it let it all out.**

"_**I THINK THAT I AM A FAKE, A FRAUD, I HAVE MEMORIES IN MY HEAD, MEMORIES I KNOW AREN'T MINE, MEMORIES FROM THE REAL JAUNE ARC, MEMORIES THAT WERE TAKEN FROM JAUNE ARC, TAKEN BY SOME WEIRD MACHINE IN A CAVE,"**_** the Amalgam bellowed out, already having started piecing together the truth of itself. **_**"THEN I SUDDENLY WAKE UP IN THIS ROOM, AND THE FIRST THING I WANTED TO BELIEVE WAS THAT I GOT KIDNAPPED AND PUT IN SOME ROOM, EVEN IF IT DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE, JUST WAKING UP IN SOME RANDOM ROOM FROM A FOREST THAT WAS LITERALY JUST INSIDE THE BOUNDARY OF ONE OF THE MOST SECURE VILLAGES IN VALE, GUARDED BY MY FAMILY WHO LITERALLY CAN TELL WHEN I AM IN DANGER OR NOT, I KNEW THAT BEING KIDNAPPED WAS CLOSE TO IMPOSSIBLE, BUT AT LEAST IT WAS BETTER THAN THIS WRETCHED TRUTH!"**_

**The Amalgam then began taking breaths, having screamed out its frustrations, while somehow having figured out the truth of its fate, then it fell to its knees, though one human and the other mechanical, and let out frustrated breaths as liquid dripped from its body and kept pouring from its 'eyes'.**

"_**That's the truth, isn't it, that's what I am,"**_** the amalgam spoke, in its warbling female voice, now sounding more broken from its sadness, **_**"the last memory I had was a flash from some weird device, and I am suddenly here, which either meant I was somehow taken here in an instant, which I know is impossible, and wouldn't explain how it just happened 'just like that' without me feeling anything in between, or the other and much more horrible possibility …"**_

"… _**is that it was only my mind that was taken … no, not taken … copied,"**_** the Amalgam then went into its explanation, the explanation showing its rather incredible forethought and intelligence, **_**"that device, it was like a camera, the one I found in that cave. It probably had a weapon to defend itself, one that it used on the beowolf when it tried to attack it, but it took a photo of me … no, not of me …**_

… _**it wasn't my body it took a picture of … it was my brain … and everything in it at the time."**_

**The Amalgam let out a hollow chuckle as it put together the final pieces to what happened and finished what it had to say.**

"_**This body, this warped thing, it's a shell isn't it, a shell made to hold that copied mind, to put that picture, that image into something that it would move, a full picture of a human brain, of everything in that brain, and then making it move,"**_** it turned its black liquid tear stained 'face' to the Vein, sadness evident as it now just sat there, **_**"why, why was I created like this, why was I made into this, what did you want, from this abomination, from this m-!"**_

"**Sentient, thinking, feeling entity, an emotionally hurt entity that with incredible intellect, a brilliant deductive mind, and a feeling heart, no pun or ill will intended," the Vein spoke, looking at the amal-entity, "you probably think that your emotions are part of a program, that your mind is not real, that you are some freak put on this world to suffer. You are not, you are no freak and you are not a monster, you are an thinking, feeling, emotionally aware and, even if you don't believe it, alive entity, regardless of what your body is made out of, also one very important fact to."**

**The Vein moved forward, and from a slot on one side, it produced a small silver bag, one that it opened using small machine manipulators, revealing what looked like soft cleaning wipes, which softly extended and …**

… **gently brushed the 'eyes' of the entity, softly wiping away the black substance from its eyes, the entity surprised at its actions, but didn't move away.**

"**I have seen REAL monsters, I survived almost being destroyed by them, and all of them lacked three things, important things that you have," the Vein stated as it slowly wiped the entities eyes, which was now wondering what the Vein wanted to tell it, "first, monsters don't have any feeling of pain or remorse, they try to bring pain and remorse to others just for their own amusement …"**

"… **second, they have no real sense of morality or empathy, for them it's just themselves and everyone else, with everyone being an enemy to them and that they have to get rid of, which you didn't do even to me, when there was really nothing stopping you …**

… **third, and most important of all, is that monsters, real monsters … don't cry, or at least not real crying."**

**The Vein wiped away the tears of the entity, the black lines being the only presence that the liquid had been on its face.**

"**I wish to ask you, the memories, the ones from the mind of Jaune Arc, are they bad, do you hate having those memories, are they really a burden to you," the Vein stated to the entity.**

**The entity opened its mouth, wanting to retort, going through the memories of Jaune Arc as it thought, thinking back at all the points it recalled.**

**It recalled the bad points first, the times where Jaune wished to become a huntsman, and the raw passion he had for the profession only to be denied by his parents many times, how he had snuck out of his family's home in the very dead of night with only what he could carry and the only weapon he could get easily, which was his families old heirloom. Then there was getting into the place he wished to go to succeed in his most desired dream, getting forged papers which cost him the last of the money in his pocket in hopes of entering. How he got into beacon, even though the headmaster knew of his forged papers from the start, and how his lack of skill and the lie he was tore into him every day he was there, compounded by trying to ask a certain white-haired heiress on a date (in all honesty, the entity could say with absolute sincerity that Jaune had been aiming far too high with his attempt, and should have noticed the signs that pointed elsewhere).**

**Then the entity felt something else, a warmth that slowly settled in its body and eased away the bad feelings that had been compounded. The feeling of triumph when he and the others he led who would then be called team JNPR, took down an ancient deathstalker in battle, the feeling of succeeding in his life filled Jaune Arc with joy and happiness. The help he received from Pyrrha, who helped him improve his fighting ability and helped him in his academics, while asking for little in return made him feel truly thankful for having such a wonderful partner in his life, and made him desire to improve himself. Then there was the events of his forged transcripts being exposed, and the horrible possibility of being seen as a fraud and liar by all, yet instead his team still stuck by his side, their sister team voiced some complaints (most if not all from a certain W), but they still chose to stick by him and decided to offer him the benefit of the doubt, and he worked hard and strong to prove he had what it took to stay, and they eventually did forgive him for the transcripts (grudgingly, again in the case of a certain W).**

**As it recalled these memories, it realized that just like any person, the memories had its ups and its downs, moments of sadness and happiness, yet at the center of it all, it was still a strong-willed, empathetic, and truly benevolent individual, whose sole desire was for the world to be a better place, not for himself but for those living in it.**

**The entity, turned to the Vein, and spoke its response, the voice now entirely female, but now without the electronic edge, and a soft yet firm voice.**

"**No, no they are not," then a tear slowly came to its eye, the dark liquid this time having a small glimmer to it, "it is wonderful, his thoughts, his emotions, even his feelings, there is not a single bad thing in his mind, he was truly a wonderful person."**

"**Yet, should I have his memories, is something like me, really worth putting the memories of such a person into," the entity stated, and the Vein answered.**

"**The individual known as Jaune Arc started their path from nothing, so why can you not start such a path to, you have just woken up, taken the first steps in this new reality, though I will say that their will be many hardships that you will face, and dangers still abound in this reality, but at least know you will not struggle alone, for there are others out in the world, like me, like you who woke to this reality and made a place for themselves in this reality," the Vein stated as it then lifted itself up, gazing at the new entity, "question is, are you willing to walk that path, to go on that journey, and find your place in this world, what say you."**

**A metallic limb extended from the Vein, and in the limb was a small clear sphere, the light a soft glowing white light, and softly rotating rings within the sphere, the object not beckoning or forcing the entity, it was just there, waiting.**

**The entity looked at this sphere, not sure of what it was, but then a determined look appeared on its face, and it knew what it needed to do.**

**It took the sphere in its hand, and squeezed it down, breaking the glass.**

**In an instant, a surge of pure energy rushed through its body, filling it with a raw and firm form of energy, the rings and central sphere breaking down and the material coalesced around its right arm, becoming a crossing band on the forearm, and in its head, it felt a surge of information, which settled after a few moments.**

**Its eyes now bore the rings of light, more pronounced and radiant in its gaze, though it soon settled to a softer glow as the energy became stable in its body.**

**The entity having made its choice, it looked at the Vein and spoke with resolve.**

"**Where do I go from here."**

* * *

"You guys haven't really said anything for a while," Mirai decided to ask those viewing what their thoughts were, "what do you all think so far?"

The members of both RWBY and NPR had first wanted to say some things earlier on, but as the drama played out and they felt it would be in poor taste to interrupt, including Nora (surprisingly), they kept quiet for now, and had gotten enraptured by the viewing and the revelation, and the drama and everything going on, that they had started to just eat and become enraptured by what was happening, though there was some input.

"Just all of that, the whole thing of being a copy, accepting those memories, being told she is a real person, it just seems to really come together here, and I usually see myself enjoying cheesy action flicks," Yang gave her input on the subject, then ate a handful of the popcorn she had.

"Honestly, I have to say, I was mostly paying attention to the fact that the weird machine girl thing was a copy of Arc's mind in that body, and thinking about how that technology even works or why it was done with him," Wiess stated as she gave her honest answer, but then gave a more relaxed response as well, "though I have to agree with him/her/it, I can get behind the fact of wanting to be your own person, not a bad thing at all, and honestly there are worse people who could have been the source of 'her' memories, and I guess Jaune isn't a bad choice in that regard."

"Honestly, I am just happy that she's fine now, and that she accepted who she is and that she is herself," Blake stated, regarding the Main Character of the viewing, "also, I can see why Jaune's mind was a good choice, he was always honest with everyone, thinks of others before himself, and always stays true to us and himself, so really its was really not a bad decision for whatever that is."

"I'm just glad that the Vein cheered up the robo-girl, and that she was happy about having Jaune's memories, though the rest of what is going on is still making my brain hurt a lot," Ruby said, softly rubbing her head as it ached from having to think so much regarding the viewing, "also, I'm kinda worried about Nora and Pyrrha, their kinda, 'out of it' I think."

Ruby gestured to Nora, who was staring blankly at the screen with smoke slowly rising from her head as the large amounts of information and revelations had caused her mind to slightly overheat, while Ren was using ice packs to cool Nora's heating brain.

Pyrrha was, quite worryingly mumbling to herself, saying things like "Jaune memories," "other Jaune," "brain copying," and such things regarding the fact that the one she was seeing was and also wasn't Jaune as she knew him/her/it?

"Ahem," Mirai stated, the other looking at her, Nora slightly tilting to look at their host, and Pyrrha halted her musings, looked at RWBY and Ren looking at her, felt embarrassed and looked down in shame, with a small "I'm sorry" as a result, but Mirai continued, "may we continue now, if that is all right with everyone."

The group said yes, and the screen went back to playing.

* * *

"**The first place to go would be to the Terminus station, which is where the rest of your journey will take place, but first off, a little information and some enhancements to your Augment Oculus unit, or AO unit, which essentially allows you to have what would best be called a 'heads-up-display' similar to what you would have in a first-person game, though quite bit more intricate than that, case in point is the Identification Index the system uses, which takes in information from any source, digital or analog, to give one the best description regarding objects, people or creatures in the known world, and that should be coming up …. Now."**

**In an instant, the entities vision suddenly a had a sudden surge of coalescent pale light pulse several time, and words and numbers flashed through her vision, until it became and intro screen, with the words: AO unit-7945302, STATUS-online, connection established, updating … update complete.**

**Another small flash, and soon readouts, then came the main system, and as was stated earlier by the v-no, the screen was now identifying objects in the environment, and one of the things identified, was the Vein, or rather, the individual named Elena Huise – 014(personal identity-Eise), which according to the scan was another mental copy like herself, a copy of the original Elena, the fourteenth and one with its own name, and not a bad one at all.**

"**Nice to meet you Eise," the still nameless entity stated, deciding to show the AO unit was working by telling it, no her, her name.**

**A computer then sputtered to life, and on the screen was the image of a young woman with features that made her to be southern Mistralian, with dark blue hair and blue eyes, "hello, I'm Eise, and I guess this means that your AO is good and ready to go, now before this whole thing goes down, I will need to update your I-index with some new info, check it when you have the time," a small indication came up on the corner of the AO, on one of several icons that looked like what one would see in a game menu or a scroll screen, specifically one that looked like a letter, "also you might want to look at the mirror again, just to give you some heads up."**

**The entity looked at the mirror, and the AO responded by labeling her with the identity: Jaune Arc-001, showing the entity that it had been the first copy of Jaune Arc, and then a readout appeared on one part of the AO screen, showing the steady rhythm of some kind of readings, like what a heart monitor shows, though she also saw something similar to this when, in Jaune Arc's memories, she went to a hospital with her parents to see Jaune's grandfather, and a screen showed readings similar to what was being shown, if it recalled it was meant to read …**

"… **are these my brainwaves, is it telling me how my mind is doing," the entity finally understanding the gist of it.**

"**That's basically it, the system is deep monitoring EEG system to keep track of your neural activity, and help stabilize your mind in case of any complications or interference, either internal or external," Eise stated as she told the entity about the need for the system, "you see, digital consciousness like ourselves are still prone to some, very nasty problems when we aren't brought into existence the right way, or can suffer a great amount of problems from shock if not careful," Eise explained to the entity.**

"**Let me guess, the consciousnesses were really not okay with the fact that they were a copy and thus were themselves not real, and the fact that they could be successfully copied in the first place probably didn't help matters either," the entity spoke matter of factly.**

"**You got it, it really went to some intense and dark places, like the fact that the copied conscious still had the complete life and experiences of the original as well as the fact that they fully identified themselves as that individual, so when they were told and had the fact they were a copy put in their faces, it really went bad, with the consciousness either going completely mad from being a fake to completely shorting out when their neural core collapsed on themselves." Eise continued on, suddenly with a slightly dark tone as she spoke of a more difficult part of the mental copy process, "then comes the more intense philosophical parts involving copying the mind of an individual, because it was also seen as essentially copying the essence of the individual, the very thing that supposedly makes humans and faunas a unique existence in the world, the part of their existence known as …. the SOUL."**

**The unnamed entity began to try and say something regarding how this shouldn't be something so important, until it remembered all it was told in its original personalities, in Jaune Arc's memories regarding the link of Aura and soul, how the very aspect of the soul and how it separated life from the Grimm, along with how so many mentioned the importance of it.**

"**The soul, such a deep and philosophical aspect of the existence of not just humans and faunas, but almost assuredly life itself, how many groups, mainly in religion and philosophy had put such importance on the concept, yet it is not only in this regard that makes the subject so touchy," Eise then turned to the nameless entity, stating to her, "If you, with memories and personality of your original, with the complete belief that you are without a doubt and beyond all question knew and felt you were Jaune Arc, were to be placed in front of the original Jaune Arc, what would your response be, what would anyone's response be if they were to suddenly be told that they, a fully thinking and aware individual consciousness were to suddenly be faced with the undeniable reality that their very existence was false and that they themselves were in fact a copy of that individual."**

**The entity thought this through, and then took a long, shuddering sigh, looked at Eise and said, "I would either get incredibly upset, want to deny the truth with everything I have, or … haaah … I guess I would just … break."**

* * *

The words of such a concept was more than a bit off putting to the group, the very thought of being copied and seeing themselves while they are the copy was not at all a comfortable thought, and also the whole bit about copying the soul made a few of them quite … disturbed by the thought.

"So this whole copying the mind of a person deal, it's not really the same as copying a person's soul right," Wiess said, originally intrigued by the Augment Oculus but then disturbed by the implications of the memory copying technology, "it's not like something like the soul can exactly be copied like that right?"

Mirai just turned to look at Wiess, before she spoke to the girl, in a monotone voice, "_No, of course not, that's obviously not how a soul works, this is just some crazy copying process and it isn't at all like that_ … is probably close to what you wanted to hear me say," Mirai then continued on with her explanation, "the truth is that there is no real way to really figure out if this is copying the soul or not, for even now, with Aura's discovery and thus the physical proof of the existence of the soul, no one really knows exactly what the soul itself really is, or what counts as its real existence. All there really is, is nothing but speculation and theories, is the soul our mind, does the soul pass on or disappear when we die, the concepts of heaven and hell, all of these points have been without an answer as to the true existence of the soul, even I am not completely sure of what it truly is, even with the sheer amount of knowledge this place offers, though personally, just like those who rescued me, I believe its best that, like a few other things in life, some mysteries are better left unsolved, especially for something as personal as the soul."

The group thought through the words Mirai spoke to them of, and they did think that something as personal as the soul was not something that should be found out and likely abused by the ones who discover such a thing, though Nora, Ruby and Yang were not as philosophically minded and just agreed that it would be the same as looking at a diary that was kept personal and hidden for a reason.

* * *

"**That is basically how it usually ended up, the copied consciousness, when awakened with the inherent belief that they were the original, were hit with an incredibly powerful form of existential shock from what we could gather, with the copied personality not even remotely able to or willing to even entertain the notion that they were a copy and thus a false existence, which simply lead to their minds falling apart and 'burning out', or the copy completely going insane, attempting to kill the original and others to eliminate anything that could prove they were a copy, which lead to having either isolate these instances, or to euthanize them." Eise stated in a deeply bitter tone, recalling some of the more darker moments regarding the neural copies, the entity able to see this actually happening given how it acted, then Eise spoke once more, "so a different method was approached, one that was seen as more stable and assured to bring about the birth of a stable, sentient intelligence, one that bore the fruit of all new intelligences, including you and I, as well as all other intelligences that exist now, a process that was more philosophical than scientific, but bore the fruit of our existence."**

"**What is the process called," the entity stated to Eise, a slight head tilt as she wondered what it was.**

**Eise gently rose upward a bit, and the optical sphere that made up its 'face' sparked to life, and a holo-screen appeared, on the screen it showed two images, the first being the image of a human brain on one side, and on the other side, was what seemed to be a mass of small cubes with many lines connecting the multiple cubes, then the screen flashed with the brain labeled COPIED PERSONALITY (CP) and the other image being COMPUTER GENERATED ARITIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (CGAI), the entity nodding at realizing what it meant now.**

"**The process …" Eise stated as she kept the view going.**

**Then in between the two images, a spherical pattern made up if multiple curving lines appeared between the two, and above the sphere appeared the words GESTALT COMMUNION CORE (GCC), and the images of the CP and CGAI moving toward the GCC, and then as the two portions neared, the CP and CGAI were slowly being broken down and merged into the GCC.**

"… **is referred to as …, " Eise stated the next part as the viewing slowly reached a conclusion.**

**The CP and CGAI were soon completely broken down and fully absorbed into the GCC, the two now rendered indistinct as their component parts were essentially 'mixed' together and focused to the center of the rapidly oscillating GCC, then the patterns from both started slowly become infused at the very core point, becoming a perfect sphere, then the GCC coalesced itself around the sphere, the lines making up the GCC becoming infused into the sphere at the center.**

**Then the sphere started expand itself outward, with small fissures developing from the lines of the sphere, the whole structure slowly expanding at a methodical and precise manner as the sphere fully opened up, with a pulse signaling the sphere coming apart as soft light began come through the fissures, and the sphere came apart and Eise finished her statement.**

" …**. SYNTHESIS," Eise finished and the screen flashed.**

**The sphere was open, and in its place, seemed to be a branching and weaving pattern of light, all focused in one centralized area, yet with no discernable core, just a branching form that seemed to be focused in a greater yet smaller part of its existence, infinite yet finite, close yet far, something that is completely new and far different from the CP and CGAI, and then its identity came up, calling it SENTIENT QUANTUM EXISTENCE (SQE)-UNA/PRIMA.**

* * *

The assembled group seemed to just take in this knowledge with stunned silence and fascination, the confirmation of the identity of the entity, and how it came to be.

"Okay, so … this girl-bot … was made by merging the copy of Jaunes brain … with an computer made A.I …," Wiess stated out loud as Ren was both trying to process this knowledge while trying to prevent Nora from having a mental meltdown as her brain was trying hard to put together what she was looking at, and Pyrrha was struggling to try and process this sudden knowledge as well, "so basically, she is a … child(?) … born from a union of a copy of Jaune's mind … and a computer program … yep, my brain is hurting, it is really hurting now, I am going to stop thinking right now."

Ruby lay against her chair, with some smoke coming out of her head as well, though now mostly knocked out as her brain was struggling to reboot from the revelation, Yang fairing little better as her smoking brain and 'lights are on but no one's home' look being a major tip off to her current mental state.

Blake was kind of enraptured by this sudden revelation, not really invested in the science of what was happening but rather the content itself.

* * *

**The entity looked at the process of SYNTHESIS.**

**The process that gave 'birth' to it, that brought it into the world, that is the reason it is currently standing in the room and is thinking, feeling, and having emotions and have the knowledge of morality, a strong will, and more from its 'father'?**

**Though now it knew the name of what it was, it was confused at how the name was split into two separated names.**

"**Prima and Una," Eise cut in to its thoughts as it explained the concept of the two, "both are just different words to designate the same number, the number being one, though with the real meaning being varied, since Una and Prima are based on two largely distinct systems of numerical ordering. Though for now it is used mainly to distinguish the gender identifying personality profiles of the SQE's that are brought into existence."**

**Eise turns to the now defined SQE as she stared at Eise, honestly wondering what the meaning of Una and Prima were, which Eise began to explain.**

"**As the SQE's began to develop their personalities, they also began to take on certain character traits that are associated with masculinity and femininity, with some behaving more like how man would act and some behaving like how women would act, though it is mostly in their behaviors and interactions since all SQE's are from the same body template, just let that sink in," Eise dropped the bomb on the very jarring truth, the SQE stunned at this little fact, "to put it basic terms, those who see and identify themselves with male designations are referred to as Una's, while those who identify themselves with female designations are called Prima's. So, Una means male, Prima means female, simple as that, right."**

**The SQE just looked at Eise, a 'I am totally lost, and my mind is melting' look on its face, before she spoke, "I have no words."**

"**Don't worry, you are doing much better than I was when I formed, that is a fact, a swear I was literally melting when I tried to process that exact same thing from my predecessor," then a holo-screen appeared before Eise, showing the readings from her 'brain', showing how the readings were spiking but still stayed relatively normal and showed that the SQE was shocked, disturbed and a third thing that was difficult to determine from the reading but was either confusion, trepidation, or both, "well these readings are about what I expected but at least your mental state is in proper focus and order, nothing to worry about, and strong stability is confirmed, I believe we are now good to continue to the next part of this journey," Eise concluded, yet the SQE was still a bit confused by one thing.**

* * *

"Oh, trust me, you aren't the only one who is confused by … all of it girl … boy … Una …. Prim-, GAH, so fucking confusing, I am right now about ready to either hit or flip something," a very irate and slightly steaming Yang stated as she was still trying to wrap her mind around all the definitions, the main character her(it, him)self(?), and all the other scientific jargon that was so far going very far over her head.

Normally, Ruby would have made a sharp quip regarding Yang using foul language, if not for her being mostly preoccupied with the new information regarding the rather disturbing bit about how all the mental copies were all in the same type of body, and how the copies were girls and boys, were all still boys and girls, boys who were girls and girls who were girls, Prima, Una, Una Prima!

'Twitch' 'Slump'

Ruby was now splayed into her seat, her mind now completely frazzled by the multiple revelations, now in a near comatose state, her brain needing to rest a bit, joining Nora in unconsciousness as the girl was draped in her chair, Ren holding an ice pack to the girls head, not really as bothered by the revelations but more for the health of the person he cares for.

Wiess was holding her head in her hand, some herbal tea appearing, in which she took a sip and found it really soothed her frazzled mind, calming her nerves from all she had seen in the viewing.

Blake was also drinking some tea as well, really needing something to soothe her thoughts after all she saw, Pyrrha also having some tea as well as she was also quite confused with all of the information that was being put out, and was now just calming herself with some nice tea.

Mirai just waited for the group to get itself calmed for the most part, waiting for Ruby and Nora to regain consciousness, seeing the two girls soon waking up from the brief period of rest, the two reluctantly taking some tea, with Blake managing to convince Yang to drink some tea as well, which they did drink, and found themselves being soothed by the calming liquid.

Mirai turned to the screen, allowing it to play, but also said something that was … concerning.

"Now, is where things get a bit more, intense."

* * *

"**Uhm, if I may ask, why is it so important that my thinking is normal, is my way of thinking important or something," the SQE told Eise, wondering why she(?) needed to have such a stable mind, Eise provided the answer.**

"**Not your thinking, your mental stability, basically if your mind is essentially processing thought in a balanced and rational way, where you have mostly full control of your emotions, don't have or at least are not likely to go through with thoughts of severe irrationality in a negative direction, and have a proper amount of control with all of your mental faculties, be they emotions, memories, thoughts and morality," Eise explained as she told the SQE about the importance of its mental stability. "You see, the mental stability of the individual SQE can sometimes be very temperamental, especially when considering exactly what is used to ensure the link and vitality between the neural core of an SQE and the body frame it inhabits."**

**Eise then proceeded to make some of the black material on her frame expand outward into a winding tendril limb, which then went into the black fluid on the ground, the fluid itself soon hardening like the tendril before some of the fluid merged together, starting to grow op from the floor into a sort of tree-like structure, though instead of ending with leaves, the ends of the 'trees' branches became blocks of the strange black material, which now stood a little over a meter in height near one side of the room, next to the room with the massive veins erupting out of it.**

"**Touch it, you will be quite a bit surprised," Eise stated, making room for SQE to approach the 'tree'.**

**The SQE made her way to the 'tree' and as Eise asked, reached out to and touched the 'tree', and was in fact surprised to find that the black material had a texture to it that was a subtle mix of both metal and soft skin, sturdy and firm, yet soft and tender, and then she noticed the material around its had was slowly becoming more fluid, and then as she began to squeeze and move the fluid, she started to realize how the fluid seemed to be responding to her thoughts, specifically to her thoughts regarding the fluid itself, the liquid building up into a ball of the substance in her hand, and then becoming a solid sphere, which then became a pentagon-like structure as it responded to her thoughts.**

**Then she realized two rather important details, both of which registered and popped up in her AO.**

**One was that the fluid that had been leaking from her body was no longer leaking out, her AO system explaining that the fluid was beginning to merge with her body frame, and soon black patches appeared in the openings on her skin, filling the openings to become patches of the black material, though some of the more mechanical portions and the larger openings were still exposed with the black liquid not fully able to properly close around the openings.**

**Second was how her AO stated that a 'S-link' had been established, before it then showed the 'tree' with a light green light within its frame, with a blue-green light taking up most of the tree, though it then also showed the rest of the black material in the room that while mostly having a blue-green light coming from most of it, had some parts with yellows, browns, blues, purples, and quite a few others colors.**

**The large veins in the destroyed room, however, were bereft of light, save for a few spots that had a very unsettling but fading red light within the veins.**

"**Since you are now manipulating the SOMA, that means that you have made a proper S-link and are now connected to the material itself," before the SQE could answer, Eise continued, "SOMA, stands for Synthetic Organic Memetic Augment (SOMA), and rather what it is, the real question is what it isn't, the material itself is able to near seamlessly take on organic and metallic properties, be a solid, liquid and a gas, and can even transmit energy currents through its structural matrix, allowing it fulfil a practically unheard amount of functions in ways that even the most radical and unorthodox of scientists could only dream about, and those here have hardly even scratched the surface in regards to the potential of SOMA, heck we may even have to change its name later on as we discover more about this 'miracle material', but I am getting off track."**

**Eise brought her thoughts together and continued, "You can now manipulate the SOMA to certain extents via the link you have established with SOMA, your S-link, and though it you can manipulate the structure of the material to a certain extent, but by merging it with certain materials and devices with the SOMA you are linked to, you are able to establish greater control over the material and allow it to gain new functions as you augment the SOMA you have, with a stronger link meaning greater control over the material itself," Eise stated, as it explained to the SQE. "Though there are some drawbacks you must be aware of, one such drawback is mainly from un-augment SOMA, in which the connection between you and the SOMA can be disrupted by another's S-link, causing the SOMA to go inert and disperse, like this."**

**Eise's tendril touched the SQE's SOMA-construct, which was now a blocky star, which had the light green within it, was suddenly flooded with green blue light, and the material spasmed briefly as it then proceeded to harden and disperse itself into the air.**

"**Like that basically, but if you have a device linked squarely to you and place it into the SOMA, a stronger link is established, one that is much harder to break than with un-augmented SOMA, with so far only two things can make un-augmented SOMA difficult to disperse, the first are those who have been using SOMA for long stretches of time and already have strong mental stability giving them immense control over SOMA and making it incredibly hard for others to disperse it, the … the other thing, well."**

**The SQE noticed Eise had suddenly become a bit distant and quite troubled regarding the 'other thing' it was mentioning, until Eise turned to the broken room, and then spoke.**

"**The other thing that I'm mentioning … did THAT!"**

**Eise's emphasis on the final word and looking at the destroyed room and the twisted, large mass of veins left no doubt in the SQE's mind that it was the 'other thing' that had destroyed the room.**

* * *

"A material than can be like metal and flesh, is able take on the main properties of matter in an instant, and can even let power flow through it," Wiess looked the strange material with great interest, "I can say with almost brutal honesty that pretty much ANYONE and EVERYONE in the SDC, Atlas, or beyond would do practically ANYTHING to gain such a material, especially my father, he would move heaven and earth to get full control of something like that."

"The things I could do with it, the weapons I could make, what I can do to Crescent Rose, I could even make something that surpasses Crescent Rose," Ruby stated in a slightly manic way, but then had the thought of her weapon suddenly leaving her as she is paid full attention to her new weapon using SOMA, and was horrified at the thought, "no, no Crescent Rose, it's not what you think, please don't go, I'm sorry," Ruby reached out in an exaggerated way to the retreating image of Crescent Rose in her thoughts, tearing up at such a thing happening.

"Maybe we should focus a bit on the part about the thing that apparently used the SOMA to destroy an entire room, and that it is apparently something to worry about," Pyrrha pointing out the rather large and obvious cliffhanger at the end of the showing.

The others agreed and turned back to the screen, wanting to see what this was leading up to.

* * *

"**What exactly did that," the SQE questioned Eise regarding the destroyed room.**

"**An Amalgam Gestalt (AG), the result of the Synthesis process creating the closest definition to a real monster, the AG is essentially the result of the CP and the CGAI either not melding together in the proper way or being merged in all of the wrong ways, leading to the creation of a horrifically unstable, completely fractured and distorted being that is literally the parts of both the CP and CGAI mashed together in a twisted or broken form," Eise stated, her voice essentially sounding like she ate a very bitter fruit, "the warped consciousness then forms a link to the SOMA and those broken and fractured thoughts and emotions spread into the SOMA … and I believe the results speak for themselves."**

**The SQE nodded at this, realizing the terrible danger that such a broken mind could pose, considering the destruction in the other room.**

"**The AG's usually end up self-destructing before they can do much harm, like the one in that room did, while others, well … sometimes we intercept and 'pacify' them, or they get lose and lead to the lose of a facility or facilities before they are also 'pacified'," Eise stated to the SQE before concluding, "yes, by 'pacify' we mean kill, though considering what they had become, death was the only mercy we could give to … well, we honestly could never figure out what or who they were in the end, or if anything was really there, it's always horrible when we have to deal with AG's, it never is."**

**The SQE quietly took in this knowledge, looked again at the destroyed room, and back to Eise, then said, "was there truly nothing else you could have done, was there no other way, could they have been saved."**

**The vein used by Eise and her image on the screen flickered for a moment, then the vein looked down and the screen darkened slightly.**

"**To all three responses … no."**

**The SQE and the vein used by Eise looked at the ground, both feeling melancholy and sadness at the fate of an AG and what usually had to happen to them, the SQE not entirely onboard with the concept of killing, given how kind and understanding its 'father' was from his memories and hoping that it would not have to make such a terrible choice any time soon.**

**Then came a soft ping from the room opposite the room Eise and the SQE were in, the darkened room, which to the SQE's surprise, lit up, revealing a similar layout to the room the SQE was in, and with a similar chair with another human/machine amalgam body in the seat, the body had longer hair, not as many holes in its body and had a bit more of its head than the SQE, with the Ocular device embedded where the eye would be.**

**A screen came up, showing the still lines showing the neural activity of the inactive entity, the SQE wondering what was going to wake from the body, and was a bit excited as the reading began to show the neural core was active and working.**

"**Well, I guess helping this new SQE with getting oriented in the world, why not help as well … oh, I forgot, you still need a name, something to identify yourself with, something can be your own, do you have a name in mind," Eise stated, the vein looking expectantly at the still unmanned SQE, hoping she had something in mind.**

**The SQE, didn't know what to think, just knowing that parents would name their children, yet it also remembered one time where its father learned that a kid who grew in an orphanage gave themselves their own name from something they believed important having happened, and gave themselves the name to always remember the event by.**

**As to important events that happened to the SQE, for her it was ….**

**The SQE looked at Eise, who looked in the best possible perplexed 'face' she could make, and then the SQE … softly smiled.**

"**Aries, I would like the name, Aries," the SQE, no, Aries stated.**

"**Haah, figured that our interaction would play a part in the name you would choose, but it is a pretty good name, so okay, I do believe we have found the name that fits you," Eise happily stated as the vein bobbed a bit in happiness, "I would like to now state, welcome to the start of your new life … Aries."**

"**Thank you," the newly named Aries stated, a genuinely happy smile on the human half of the face, and a warm and comforting aura softly hung in the air between Eise and Aries.**

* * *

"Huh, Aries, never thought that the dunce could pick such a good name, then again she/he is not the dunce, but … no, I just got rid of that headache once, I am not going to do it again," Wiess soon feeling the sudden headache coming back and deciding not to delve into that little conundrum again, "but, making your name about something important, that's … nice I guess," the heiress stated.

"Well I think it's a lovely name," Pyrrha answers truthfully, finding the name Aries to be quite a nice one, though inwardly she was jealous of Eise being used to name what was, technically Jaune's child, which soon led to a strange mix of jealousy and confusion.

"Honestly, I'm just glad we can start calling her something, because SQE is definitely not a name I am going to be saying every time, especially if someone wants me to say the whole name," Yang went, the others agreeing that the designation for what Aries was, could be a real mouthful.

"Here we go people," Mirai stated, looking at the screen, leaving the assembled people looking at the screen and wondering what was going to happen now.

* * *

"**So then Aries, while your he-!"**

'**beep-beep'**

"**HAA-HOOOHHH," a shudder ran through Aries body as the device on the wall had the screen say 100%, and the wires on Aries body simply fell away, the one on her back clunking to the floor while Aries stumbled a bit, before righting herself, now feeling quite energized, and then her AO the showed a reading, showing a circle with a plus sign inside with the number 100/100 in it.**

"**Ah, your BIO ENERGY CELL is now fully operational, and is at full power, and as the name implies, it is essentially the power source for your entire body-frame, and can gain power either from recharging with energy packs or by processing solid digestible materials into minerals to both** **refuel your bio cell or to be used to repair the biological portions of your current body, still need organic materials for an organic body." Eise then switched back to what they were originally speaking about, "now, returning to what I was about to say, would you like to be here to help me with introducing this new SQE to its current circumstance, it would help since you have gone through the event yourself, sound okay."**

**Aries nodded her head, agreeing with Eise on the matter, stating, "of course, I would love to help introduce her to her current circumstances, and then we can all go on this journey you spoke about, together," Aries finished, waiting for Eise's response.**

**Eise's screen image lit up a bit, and the Vein bobbed a bit at this, "great, so when it wakes up, I will help her be aware of her current circumstances, and you be emotional support to help ease her into this whole thing, simple but it will require us to work hard with one another to make it work."**

"**Okay, so let's-!", Aries looked at the still form of the SQE in the room, and froze at what she saw, "uhm, Eise, is the body supposed to have that much SOMA coming out of it," Aries pointed out, the body of the SQE leaking out large amounts SOMA from its openings onto the floor, the material almost completely covering the body of the unawaken SQE.**

"**No, no that is most certainly not the amount of SOMA that is supposed to-!", Eise's next thoughts came to a sudden and vicious halt as it happened.**

'**VSCCCHHH'**

**The lines showing the mind of the unawaken SQE … distorted in an brief instant, the lines spiking and the screen briefly becoming a white and black color, and the screen itself seemed to distort so bad that it shifted at least three times before returning to normal.**

"**No," Eise said, a tone of horror in her voice.**

'**VSSCCHH, VVVIIII, SHHHCCC'**

**Aries then saw the screen distort again, this time for much longer than before, but this time, images appeared on the distorting screens, all in black and white and in a shadowy pattern.**

**The images were haunting as they were terrifying.**

**A sword dripping with liquid**

**A shattered hammer**

**A burning Atlas designed building**

**And finally, the simple image of a heart, which then had fracture lines run through it …**

… **and then breaking to pieces.**

* * *

"Okay, that's more than a bit disturbing and worrying," Ren stated.

"What does that mean, and why does that hammer look sort of like my Magnhild," Nora pointed out, with everyone noticing the disturbing similarity the shattered hammer had to Nora's own weapon, leading to some very worrying thoughts.

"What does that burning building even mean, it looks like one of the many sky-scrapers in Atlas, but why is it burning," Wiess was quite disturbed by what the burning Atlas building meant.

"Is that sword …," both Ruby and Pyrrha noticed how similar the blade was to one they knew quite well and belonged to someone they both knew.

* * *

"**Oh no, it's rate of mental decay is already passing the 100 threshold and still falling," Eise stated, as multiple screen activated in the room, showing either the distorted brain wave system, flashes of black and white, and what were horribly distorted and unreadable images that did not seem to make any sort of sense, "I am initiating both the emergency shutdown and system quarantine to the room, initiating now.**

**The room then had metal shutters start closing, rising up just as the body woke up …**

… **and twisted its head rapidly, and the showing its artificial human eye to have veins of SOMA spreading from the center of the iris, stretching like twisted roots through the eye and then the rest of the face, the device in its head also seemed to be distorting and rupturing as it seemed to be moving into the head, the light in the center starting to glow in an ominous, terror inducing way.**

**Just as the metal panels fully shut, the SOMA covered the entire upper half of the awakened entities face, which then seemed to become even more horrifying as SOMA started to spill from the mouth, its visage shifted into what would be … a look of unimaginable rage and sorrow.**

"_**GRYAAAAHHHHHH**_**," the shriek was let out as the nightmarish entity was now locked behind a metal shutter.**

"**Okay, now shutting down power to the sector, switching from power system to energy cell," Eise stated before the lights in the whole room shut down, then smaller red lights appeared, though still leaving the room quite dim and difficult to see, that is until Aries AO activated its night-vision mode, allowing Aries to see in the dark with incredible clarity.**

* * *

"Wow, that night vision mode is even better than my own eyes in the dark," Blake said, noting the clarity of the AO night vision, "honestly I can see a lot of uses for that system."

"Blake, the AO thingy is cool, I admit it, but right now don't you think we should be worried that Jau-Aries is stuck in a room next to a very scary and very violent thing that was like her at one point," Ruby turned the conversation back to the creature in the other room next Aries.

"I think I recall Eise mentioning earlier about some of the SQE's going badly and becoming monsters, I think she called them -!", Wiess was cut off as the screen continued, Eise's panicked voice confirming her fears.

* * *

"**AG ALERT, AG ALERT, AMALGAM GESTALT IN SECTOR 1025 OF SYNTHESIS FACILITY 'CRADLE 16', SENDING MESSAGE TO SECTOR SECURITY STATION," Eise's panicked voice then quieted a bit as she addressed Aries, "and I need you to do two things, first is to go out the door and head to the elevator at the end of the hall, the door is set to remain open for 30 seconds, you have to out of here by then, second, I need you to take my neural core with you, I cant just up and leave you down here with the AG, so take me with you, I open the elevator, and get out of here, because I honestly doubt this AG is going to be contained for long in the room, so let's go, hurry."**

**With that, the Vein fully opened again, revealing her neural core, and Aries gripped the core which detached from the Vein, causing the Vein and the screen to go dark, then Aries began to run to the do-!**

**KAAANNGGG**

**A massive amount of force slammed into the metal shutter on the side, buckling the metal and shattering the glass, causing Aries to fall to the floor, then look up and saw as bubbling amounts of SOMA were coming from the gaps in the shutters, and then another equally loud bang was heard, warping the shutters more.**

"**Aries, you have to get up now," Eise's voice started to talk to her, this time appearing in her AO comm. Link, "I linked to the AO to speak with you, and you need to get up now, before it breaks through.**

**Aries moved to get up, then felt her other, empty hand grab something, Aries turned and saw what it was, gripping onto the dropped sledgehammer, and running to the open door, which was a large and heavy looking sliding bulkhead door than a regular door, making her way out as the shutters kept being smashed.**

"**Oh no, the door won't close in time, that thing will be able to get through the door and kill us before we can escape, "Eise's panicked voice echoed through the AO comm. Link, "Aries, I don't know what to – Aries?"**

**The neural core was set on the floor outside the door, with ten seconds left till it shut.**

**Then Aries took her stance, winding the hammer back with both arms, the door still open as it ticked to eight seconds.**

**The shutters finally gave, and the AG tore its way into the room, and the it leapt straight at the door at Aries …**

… **only for a sledgehammer, flying at near bullet speeds, to smash straight into its head, completely rupturing it, and sending it flying to the back of the room, smashing through the chair in the center of the room and slamming into the back wall, where crumpled to the ground in a heap.**

* * *

"STRIKE, YOU'RE OUT," Nora yelled at the screen, seeing the sledgehammer pulverize the AG, "did you guys see that, that hammer strike was awesome."

"Yeah Nora, we saw that, Aries really dropped the hammer on that one, huh," Yang's pun finally showed itself, the group feeling the sudden unwanted despair of hearing Yang's awful puns again.

Then a wrench dropped from nowhere and hit Yang in the head.

'BAM'

"Owwww, what the heck was that," Yang yelled out as she felt the strong head pain blossom.

"Probably should have told you this earlier, but this facility has an intelligence system that runs the whole place, and it unfortunately has a very low tolerance to certain things, and one of those things is puns," Mirai pointed out, and a pulse of light echoed through the walls of the facility, showing the presence of the intelligence, "if something it doesn't tolerate is done here, it will administer a punishment equal to how bad this something is."

"Hey," Yang's eyes became red as her semblance began to flare, though she felt odd, as though it wasn't as strong as it should be, "my puns are great, and you can ju-!"

'VRM-CHINK'

In an instant, panels opened up in all of the walls, and hundreds of gun/laser/cannon barrels were all pointed directly at Yang from many parts of the wall, and all of the had laser sights on them, which caused Yang's whole body to glow completely red as she suddenly noticed the honestly terrifying amount of firepower that was now aimed at her person, a holo-screen appearing before Yang, the words on it were 'GO AHEAD', and resounding amount of clicks echoed through the room as the guns made ready to erase Yang from existence.

"Uh, you know what, its nothing really, see," Yang said putting her hands up, realizing that she had no weapons at the moment, and that she would most certainly not survive an attack of that caliber even with her semblance, or with anything else she imagined.

The guns went back into the walls, the first turret having come up beneath Mirai's seat, puting the seat on a platform above the gun turret, which went back into the floor, with Mirai turning to everyone.

"Anyone else have any quips to add here," everyone rapidly shook their heads, none of them wanting to face the wrath of the facility, " good, then let's get back to watching shall we, we are almost to the end."

* * *

**The timer ticked at three seconds as Aries witnessed the damage she inflicted, realizing that the strength she threw the sledgehammer at was almost on par with a (non-semblance powered) hammer strike from Nora, the strike having taken off most of the head of the AG, and leaving a massive dent in the wall in the back of the room.**

"**Wow, I know Jaune was never that strong, only the real powerhouses like Nora and Yang were ever tha-," then Aries witnessed something happen to the AG, something very terrifying, "uh-oh."**

**Thrashing tendrils of SOMA erupted from the AG's body, thrusting into the walls of the room, turning into expanding roots that began to it into the walls, while spreading into the AG itself.**

**Just before the door could close, Aries had to witness as the tendril of soma lifted the AG's body up, turning its neural core 'eye' to face her, the 'eye' seeming to have a vicious gaze as it looked at her, before large tendrils of SOMA surrounded and swallowed up the head, just as the door finally shut.**

**Aries could only look on in shock at the horrifying display … until a message came from Eise.**

"**Perhaps now would be a good time to run to the elevator and get out of here, preferably before this sector is locked down completely and destroyed, or perhaps before that thing gets strong enough to break out of the room," Eise pointed out to Aries, who immediately picked up Eise's neural core and ran to the elevator, which was at the end of the hallway, with a scanner next to it lighting up.**

* * *

"Okay, almost out of there, they just need to activate the elevator and thy are safe," Ruby saw as Aries and Eise were almost out of the large room, "once they are on the elevator, they will be safe right."

"Yes Ruby, once they get on the elevator and ride it out of the room, they will reach safety," Mirai stated to Ruby's relief, then she spoke again, filling Ruby and the others with worry, "at least for a time anyway."

* * *

"**Put me on in front of the scanner so we can get out of here," Aries held Eise up to the scanner, the beam of light sweeping over the neural core, and the elevator soon opened, revealing a slightly worn but still quite spacious and clean metal interior, which Aries entered, Eise in hand.**

"**Level 5, we use the umbilical to get to the main facility, and quickly before this section detaches," Eise explained, Aries nodding as she pushed the button for level 5, then she heard a horrible noise of grinding metal.**

'**SKKRRRCCHHHH'**

**She didn't need to look far as the source became clear, seeing the metal bulkhead getting wrenched open, the culprit being the AG, its head now reformed, though now as a twisted mass of SOMA tendrils, all surrounding its neural core now functioning as its sole eye.**

**The elevator began to close, but just before it closed, it heard the AG mutter one word, and felt only fear.**

"_**D**__i__**E**__!__**"**_

**The elevator shut, and then began to rapidly ascend, the sound of metal tearing was still heard, until it seemed to subside, the elevator now on level 5, the door soon opening, revealing a large room, with a long hallway with Artificial gemstone glass, or that's what the AO labeled it as.**

**Also the were underwater, which was surprise-!**

'**BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP'**

"**ALERT, AG ALERT, AG ALERT," an electronic voice blared through the speakers on the wall, "AG HAS ESCAPED CONFINMENT, ELEVATOR SEALED, CLOSING ALL DOORWAYS, ALERT AG HAS DESTROYED DOORWAY TO LEVEL 2 HEADING TO LEVEL 3 DOORWAY, EVACUATE NOW."**

"**RUN FOR THE UMBILICAL GATE, NOW," Eise all but shrieked out, and Aries took off to the umbilical, entering just as the voice sounded again.**

"**ALERT, LEVEL 3 DOORWAY DESTROYED, REINFORCING LEVEL 4 DOORWAY," the voice stated, Aries running the length of the hall, not even attempting to stop and admire the view as she ran, the reason becoming apparent as she neared the umbilical's other entrance.**

"**LEVEL 4 BREACHED, REINFORCING LEVEL 5 DOORWAY," Aries only ran faster, at a speed even she never thought she could reach, then again, she was sort of a machine so, yeah.**

**She entered the umbilical gate, and stopped inside, "PANEL, CONSOLE, NOW," Eise ordered in panic, Aries carrying the neural core to the console, the panel scanning the neural core, just as the alarm voice sounded, along with the sound of metal being torn.**

"**ALERT, LEVEL 5 IS BEING BREACHED, ALERT, LEVEL 5 IS BEING BREACHED," the voice stated, and the doorway that Aries AO magnified, which was at the far end of the hall, the door being a large octagonal entry with a strong metal doorway in place …**

… **was violently wrenched apart, as the AG from the lab tore the thick metal with large tendrils of raw SOMA, the thing now looking like a massive, mishappen mass of writhing black tendrils, all dripping with SOMA, which then began to rush down the hall to the umbilical.**

**That is until a metal divider came down on the AG, nearly cutting it in half, soon many dividers came down, the AG twisting in anger as the dividers sealed the hallway, with metal panels coming down on the view ports of what Aries believed was the sector, which appeared quite large in her vision, being a large Pylon of blocky structures and swept edges that was linked to the facility by strong metal supports, umbilical's and many links that Aries saw were thick strands of SOMA.**

"**Authorization confirmed," Eise stated, "disconnecting sector, disconnect!"**

**The room shuddered and shook as small explosions erupted on the supports of the sector; the umbilical's entrance closed shut, just as the umbilical broke apart from multiple explosive charges, the broken umbilical soon joining the rest of the falling sector pieces and the sector as they fell into a large ocean crevasse, the view being so clear that Aries could see the view over several kilometers away from the facility through the ocean.**

**The 'unnaturally' clear ocean, that was until the metal panels on the viewports began to shut, just as the falling sector dropped into the trench that was almost next to the facility, falling into it and soon disappearing.**

"**Sending message to central security, sector purge confirmed, AG threat neutralized," Eise spoke through the comm.'s, "all clear for now, but maintain alert until sensors confirm we are in the clear, Sector 4 Administrator Eise ending transmission."**

**Then Eise turned to Aries, "while everything is settled, I think now would be a good opportunity to visit the Weaver, both to complete the process of repairing and strengthening your body-frame, ensuring that your AO is calibrated, system is properly updated, and … ahem, putting some proper attire on you of course, which I believe you would like to have, yes."**

**Aries then remembered the fact that, although the body was a near nightmarish macabre of machine and organic merging, it also had no clothing on it, which she felt was something she nodded, she picked up Eise, and before she could utter a word, her AO reported a message being sent to her.**

**The message showed a map, leading her deeper into the facility, down several hallways, through some junctions, and to the central hub area, where a room labeled 'Weaving Station 17' was located.**

**Aries simply kept quiet and walked down the hallway leading to where she needed to go.**

* * *

"Okay, so she escaped the monster, she was under water all along, and is in a huge facility … underwater," Yang said, stating the current events in short order, "guess she -!"

'CHING'

Yang stared with wide eyes at a four barreled machine gun turret, which four heavy machine guns stacked two by two, on top of one another, all four barrels pointing at Yang, a hologram coming up in front of the gun saying, 'go ahead' …

… 'CHING' …

… while the turret cocked itself, preparing to bring terrible pain to Yang's existence.

"Ah, umm, 'whistles'," Yang looked away from the turret while whistling nervously, with the turret SLOWLY lowering itself back into the floor, and finally disappearing from sight, only for a hologram to appear with the phrase 'always watching' with two open human eyes staring widely at Yang on the screen before it fades out.

"I am not sure if I am upset that Yang's being threatened, or thrilled at the fact that her puns are being stopped, even though she's my sister," Ruby stated, a slightly conflicted look on her face as she was leaning onto the 'no more puns' half of the conflict, "but at least Aries is safe, and the monster is gone, so that is a good thing."

"I agree, also the sheer technological and engineering expertise to make such a facility, even Atlas would be hard pressed to build, sustain and maintain something of that size in open water, though I am left wondering if that monster was literally so dangerous that they needed to destroy an entire sector," Wiess wondered as she analyzed the events that transpired.

"It looked pretty dangerous when it was literally tearing its way through every door in that sector, and when it looked like a monster," Blake stated, noting the destruction that the AG performed, as well as looking like a terrifying tentacle monster before the sector was destroyed.

"Agreed, when you take the rather dangerous matter state conversion and form shifting capabilities of SOMA along with the raw violence of an broken mind, then the sheer danger that such a combination becomes more apparent than one would dare imagine," Mirai also stated, allowing the viewing to continue.

* * *

**Aries, walked to a doorway that led deeper into the facility, seeing a touchpad next to the door with a green symbol, while a few doors in the same area had red symbols on their touchpads. Her AO designated the red symbol to be 'CLOSED', and the green symbol to be 'OPEN', and the doorway was on the path she was taking, so she touched the pad and the door slid open.**

**She entered a long corridor, and was stunned at the sight of a fully armored individual who was a bit taller than Aries herself, the armor a mix of light black and dark greys, the armor was in a mix of large armor pieces, like chest and shoulder pieces mixed with portions that were a metallic-thread mesh, the head fully covered by a helmet that seemed like a futuristic mixture of a modern diving helmet with a bikers helmet, both functional and aesthetically 'cool' she guessed.**

**The armored figure approached Aries, heavy footsteps were felt against the floor as the figure was soon in front of Aries and started to look over her form, making Aries nervous. This feeling was compounded when Aries noticed that the figure had a rather large and slightly bulky rifle on her back, as well as what seemed to be a shotgun as well, the weapon also relatively bulky as well but not enough to get in the way of being effective.**

"**So, you're the new kid, huh," Aries was taken by surprise at the very feminine voice that came from the intimidating armored figure, "yeah, most new ones have that reaction, me as well if I can recall, hold up."**

**The helmet seemed to split away, revealing the face underneath.**

**Aries was stunned into silence as she saw the very 'human' face of the individual beneath the helmet, showing a slightly more aged version of her face, though this time with the whole head intact. Hair cut short, both irises a glowing orange with the patterned circle within, and sort of tattoo on the left side of the face, being curved lines that looped around one another in a curved grid pattern, before ending at the edge of the face.**

"**Don't worry, once you get to the 'Weaver' you'll be looking right as rain, maybe even cuter than some of the others I've seen," the unknown individual said, "by the way, names Mevis, just to give you a name, and I am just like you, an SQE if you want to get technical, but I see myself as an Una, that is something I know."**

**Aries could only gaze at the now named Mevis, realizing that this was her first time talking to another like herself, though not really as she had spoken with Eise, but that had been as a large Vein creature, though when she thought that, it sounded pretty racist.**

"**Anyway, I bet you are heading for the Weaver station to get yourself together, just follow your AO, and you'll find it in no time-!"**

"**Perhaps she could have found it sooner if she were not having an long winded conversation with you Mevis," came another voice, Aries turning to see another SQE in lighter armor, longer hair, glowing dark green eyes, a pattern resembling lines of light extending from the eye to the edge of its half of the face, and she had a sort of exasperated look.**

"**I was just getting her familiar with this place, no need to get all uptight about it, Mein," Mevis stated to the now named Mein, "oh right, told you mine and Mein's names, so what yours."**

"**A-Aries, its Aries um," Aries had trouble addressing Mevis, only for her to clear it up.**

"**Just Mevis is fine, same with Mein here, were all friends here, though some of us are kind of hard to get along with," Mevis stated, giving some very suggestive glances to Mein, only to get a smack to the back of the head for her trouble.**

"**Mevis, I recall telling you to head to the control facility of the sector we just purged to try an find out whether the AG is really gone or if we should start making emergency preparations for any new situations, preferably before its to late, also I am sending Len and Vix with you," Mein stated as two other armored figures appeared, already walking by and out the door Aries entered from.**

"**All right Mein, I'm going, sheesh," Mevis grabbed her weapon and proceeded to leave, but not before saying one final thing, "see ya Aries, good luck wherever you go."**

**Mevis soon left, and Aries was left with Mein, "Okay Aries, go to the Weaver, and I believe Eise here can continue to fill you in on what's going on, while I have to go and make sure what's left of this facility is still standing," with that, Mein leaves to go to out the same door that Mevis went through, also heading for the sector control room.**

"**Well, lets go then, shall we," Eise stated to Aries, who only nodded and proceeded to walk down the facilities halls to the 'Weaver'.**

* * *

"So, she really isn't the only one huh," Wiess stated, seeing Mevis, Mein and the other two, "at least its good to know that there are others to talk to."

"Huh, and here I thought you were only interested in the tech, never thought you had that warm of a heart 'ice queen'," Yang stated, using her nickname for Wiess.

"Shut it Xioa-Long," Wiess stated back.

* * *

**Aries made her way through the base, heading to the 'Weaver' to get her body prepared, walking the halls as more SQE's made their way along the halls, moving aside to allow the armored SQE's to get to where they needed to go, and along the way, Eise spoke to her.**

"**She was one of you, you know, that AG," Eise stated, continuing before Aries could answer, "it was a made from the same source as you, a CP (Copied Personality) of Jaune Arc, more specifically, the last copy of Jaune Arcs mind that had been received from the original."**

"**The last one, how many SQE's are there that were made using Jaune's mind, besides me," Aries said, now wondering exactly how many like her were around.**

"**Brace yourself for this, according to the last intel update following your awakening, the total number of 'Jaune Arc Pattern' SQE's, including you and the AG, is … 25," Eise dropped the bomb.**

"**WHAT!"**

* * *

"25!" Wiess exclaimed.

"Wow, that is a lot of Jaune there, -", Yang felt a strong chill go through her as she was getting ready to set up a pun, and a feeling of imminent doom upon her, "uhm, well at least she's not alone in all this I guess, hehe."

The other girls were honestly feeling a bit weird at Yang suddenly not using puns, though a large part of them were quite relieved at no longer having to hear them (except maybe Nora, who usually was on Yang's side in regard to puns), though they were left torn at the fact that her pun hiatus was being enforced at cannon point as they saw a twenty millimeter auto-cannon being aimed behind Yang from the ceiling.

"Well, its quite surprising, wouldn't you say guys," Ruby said, though still a bit worried about what the facility may end up doing to her sister.

"Moving on," stated Mirai.

* * *

"**There are 25 others like me," Aries stated in an incredulous fashion.**

"**Yes, with you and the AG the number of SQE's that used Jaune Arc's CP stands at 25 SQE's, but I must ensure you understand that the CP's used in the other SQE's and the AG were also quite different," Eise continued on.**

"**Different how," Aries questioned.**

"**Different in that the CP's used by the others were from later copies of Jaune Arcs mind, you were made using the first CP that was taken of Jaune Arc's mind 'at the time it was taken', the CP's of the others were conceived at later times, after Jaune experienced more events in his life later on, and these changes in his memory and personality would of course affect the development of the SQE it is used to create," Eise clarified, surprising Aries at this new information.**

"**That is also why I don't hold anything against the violent reaction of the AG when it first began attacking, you saw yourself what appeared on the monitors, those were echoes of the memories that made up the CP used on it, what Jaune Arc went through at the time was put into the SQE," Eise shifted to look at Aries, who looked back at Eise as she continued. "The reason that AG became what it was, can either stem from the CGAI or the CP, the CGAI was working fine, and the SP was initially showing steady when it first went in to the Synthesis unit, but a third issue, a less talked about on, can lead to an AG's creation, and that is the content of the CP, specifically the memories of the CP, which can only be fully perceived when linked to a thinking mind, which leaves the very troubling question …**

… **what did Jaune Arc go through in the time before he recorded JACP-25, what events could have so effected and ingrained themselves into his memories that it would create the monster we saw born."**

**Aries was left quite stunned and scared at this possible truth, with the images it saw from when the AG first activated still lingering in its mind.**

"**They know, they know what really happened, they were there," Eise said in a subdued tone.**

"**Huh, what does that mean," Aries questioned Eise as she heard what she stated, the answer was … surprising.**

"**It relates greatly to why you were born, to what happened on this world, to what has occurred on the surface," Eise stated to Aries, in a matter of fact way, "I can not tell you yet, not until you have seen for yourself what has transpired on land, but first you must be made ready for whatever may occur … we are here."**

**Aries then realized she was about to run into a large door, which opened up, revealing a large circular room with data towers that were more like pillars, emerging from the ground and rising into the ceiling, five in total arranged in a circular formation, and all surrounded a large cylinder that was also quite tall.**

**The cylinder then opened, revealing a human sized, oval pod with lines of SOMA undulating around its edges, the pod also opening, obviously waiting for someone to step into it.**

**Aries knew it was for her, that this was likely the weaver that Eise, Mevis and Mein had spoken of, and that she had to go inside.**

"**This is it, the 'Weaver', this will complete the procedure to get your body into a more stable and sturdier form, perform physical enhancements and neural reinforcement, as well as making you more visually appealing I could say," Eise stated, then the neural cores ocular sensor shifted to Aries, " but before that could you put me over on the panel at the corner of the room, right behind the third CPU tower."**

**Aries spotted the panel, which was itself a rectangular table with a flat reflective panel on its surface, though when Aries placed Eise on the panel the surface lit up with holographic information panels, and at the center was a single display for the 'Weaver' with the words INITIATE flashing on the screen, which was one of the few familiar things on the screen that Aries could make out.**

"**Process set, station is ready to begin 'weaving', now all it needs is the subject," Eise's ocular sensor shifted to Eise, "while you get 'weaved', I'll monitor the process from out here, if anything comes up, I will be here to rectify it."**

**Aries nodded at Eise's neural core, then looked at the pod itself.**

**She walked up to the pod and slowly climbed in, getting situated inside.**

**Lights came on along the sides of the pod, the pod itself closing up, and the cylinder sealing itself up as well, then a clear but viscous liquid began to pour into the pod at a rapid rate, and Aries panicked slightly at the thought of drowning … only to recall that she hadn't really been breathing for most of the time and her AO showed that here lungs weren't really working at all, or at least not like normal human ones. The viscous fluid filled the pod and outside the pod, multiple ports opened, depositing SOMA into the cylinder. From the edges of the pod, veins of SOMA came out and plugged into Aries's body, a slight stinging feeling came through as she felt the SOMA merge to her body, small incisors and other such instruments appeared as well from the pod's edges.**

**Just as the instruments were prepared to touch her skin, a prompt from her AO flashed across her vision, and it read 'SHIFTING TO STANDBY, 'SLEEP' MODE INITIATED', Aries read this and slowly her vision gradually faded, in a way similar to how a screen turns off, "I guess now I now how my computer feels every time I turn off the monitor," Aries told herself as her vision faded completely and her senses were soon replaced with a dull emptiness.**

**As Aries woke, she found a round platform beneath her feet, small motes of light surrounding her like stars in the distance, and she herself was a simple sphere of light in the expanse of light, and in 'front' of 'herself' was a screen that said '11 hours'36 minutes'42 seconds' which she guessed was the time it would take for the process to finish.**

**She simply decided to just simply rest in the large space, allowing her mind to drift into a dreamless sleep within the large space, dulling its awareness around itself and the lights slowly dimmed around her as she slowly let herself go into a stupor and the time fell away as she slept away.**

**The time passed as she slept, and she would soon wake up once again, all she could do now, was wait.**

* * *

The screen turned itself off, which seemed to be the end of the current viewing.

"Wow, that was something, right guys," Ruby told the others as she spoke to the members of her team and _NPR, and the all agreed.

"It was a pretty interesting view, and the technology was quite something to see, and how Aries interacted with others and the situations that came up was pretty interesting," Wiess stated, the viewing having been quite eye opening in quite a few parts.

"It was pretty good, but it was kinda long though," Blake stated as she got up from the chair, feeling a bit stiff as she got up, "I'm not complaining about the viewing, it was very interesting and had some very strong points here and there, just that it felt a bit long, but it was still good."

"I hope the fearless-leader new daughter gets to kick a whole lot of butt after this," Nora stated, still remembering when Aries put the hurt on the AG, and Eise breaking off the whole portion of the underwater station, "and seriously, they were in an underwater base, that's cool on so many levels."

"I just hope she is still okay after all of that," Pyrrha stated, hoping that Aries gets through it all okay, but her mind still preoccupied by the AG and what the symbols it flashed meant, which left her worried.

"Well, I guess now would be a good time to take a break from the viewing, go to the restroom, feel free to freshen up, get some food if you want any, and well continue in about an hour from now, so tha-!"

Just before Mirai could finish, the screen flashed on, and the viewing played once more, though only briefly, but that brief viewing was very foreboding.

* * *

**Aries felt a disturbance as she rested in the silent space, and her vision refocused as she saw the timer as it ticked to '1 hour, 31 minutes, 27 seconds', but noticed a red hue now permeated the view around her, and the word 'ALERT' was on a screen next to the countdown.**

**Then a small screen popped up, and it showed that it was a message from Eise, which Aries then opened to view.**

**She wish she hadn't, as the message, while short, said all it needed to.**

**/Message from EISE received, contents are as follows/**

**/…/**

**/…/**

**/… **_**ITS STILL ALIVE …**_**/**

**/Message End/**

* * *

That brief viewing immediately caused the mood of teams RWBY and _NPR, to drop, but quite a large amount.

"Oh boy, looks like Aries is going to be in for a really rough time when she wakes up," Yang added in, speaking as she wanted to say something though now a bit worried but using a pun offhandedly, a bit afraid of what the room might do to her.

The others could only feel worry at what Aries would face, knowing that the thing Eise was talking about was the AG, and wanted to know what would come next.

"We will see what occurs later on in this reality, but later on I am afraid, for there is more than one reality linked to this affair, and the order we will see these realities in will be random I am afraid," Mirai stated, "if you want to learn the fate of your original world, we will need to see these realities as they appear, or we will never find out what has ultimately happened to your world," Mirai finished talking to them, looking as the screen now said 'PREPARING' as it made ready to view a new reality.

"We will meet back here in around one hour, I will send an alert telling you when the next viewing is getting ready to begin, until then, do what you need to for now in here," Mirai stated to them, before she made her way to another exit which appeared before her and was now gone.

As the group were now left alone, it was Ruby who then gave the final word on the matter of what to do.

"All right everyone, just go and do what you need to and meet back here once Mirai sends her message, we all good on that," everyone nodded in agreement, and Ruby smiled a bit at that, okay everyone, let's go then."

They went their separate ways as they went do what they needed to do, while the next reality was being brough up for viewing.

* * *

**Authors note- **

**I must apologize here, I had no idea the chapter would be this long and have so much in it, I will try to shorten up the coming chapters, but I guess it will depend on how I go with them.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and I will be continuing on with the work, catch ya in the next one.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3 – HALLOW I, Arrival Below

Ruby was walking from the bathroom only to run into Wiess as she herself was walking from where she had come from, "O-oh Wiess, sorry to almost run into you, I was just finishing in the bathroom, you?"

"Well, I went to go check our rooms and the other facilities after I had gone, and I will say that it was quite … eye-opening I guess you could say," Wiess said, having seen the large recreation center as she waited for the viewing to continue, "so Ruby, what are you going to do now."

"Well I guess I was also gonna go look at our room to, but I guess you could tell me about it since you were th-!"

"Viewing is recommencing, everyone come on back," Mirai stated, sending the alert through the speaker system.

"Or we could go see the next viewing, could be interesting," Ruby stated, earning a deadpan look from Wiess.

"Ruby, the only way we are even going back is to watch these viewings in case you forgot," Wiess bluntly stated, and Ruby could only nervously laugh in return, which gave Wiess an exasperated yet bemused feeling, then she took Ruby's hand and said, "come on, let's go."

Ruby for her part, simply let the heiress lead her back, a warm smile on her face from the gesture.

Soon they had returned, the screen now active and flickering with light, and Mirai already returned and waiting for the group.

"Well, it appears everyone is here, and we can all begin," Mirai stated before she continued on, though the grim look on her face was quite worrisome to the assembled group, "I wish to caution you all, the reality we will see will be darker than the previous one, both figuratively and literally, for the Jaune Arc in this reality was 'dealt a bad hand', that then led the Arc of this realm to face a much darker path."

"What happens, what is going to happen to Jaune," Pyrrha stated, the previous reality was bad and left on a bit of a cliffhanger but knowing that this reality would be darker made her far more worried.

"Well, to put it simply something bad happens to him in the beginning, and he ends up doing something to prove what had been done to him wrong and ends up getting in a very darker set of circumstances because of it, circumstances that lead to sudden change and a new reality," Mirai stated, "but you will have to see for yourself, because we are about to begin."

"Just wondering but does Jaune become a girl in this one to," Blake stated, wondering if it would be a recurring theme in the realities they see.

"You will just have to see for yourself, because it's showtime," Mirai talked, pointing out the screen starting to clear, the image soon coming through, and the group then took their seats as the image cleared.

The new viewing began.

* * *

**Jaune Arc cut down another Beowolf, doing what he could from his training with Pyrrha taught.**

"**Guh," a soft whimper came from Jaune as tears fell from his eyes, trudging through the forest of Forever Fall, the blade he had was heavy in his hand, but it felt much firmer than Crocea Mors had, and he focused entirely on trying to get through the forest.**

"**HAAH," he swung the blade down on another beowolf, making his way further through the forest, trying his best to reach the temple, his desire to prove himself to the only person he had left now driving the young man as he made his way through the thick brush.**

**The one he was trying to prove his worth to … **

… **was himself.**

**For he now had no one to left who he could turn to.**

* * *

The group looked at this version of Jaune Arc, and they all felt visibly worried at the actions of this Jaune Arc, and what had happened to him.

"What happened to him, why is he like that, and what does that mean no one left," it was Pyrrha who wanted an answer to what was happening.

"Listen, and know that there are many worlds that are very much unkind to many individuals, Jaune Arc included, and what you will see is but one of many misfortunate fates that befall his existence," Mirai pointed out as the viewing continued.

* * *

**He once had good friends, a strong team, and had made friends with the sister team to his own, team RWBY, though it was mostly with the fellow leader of the other team, and he felt that his fellow member, Pyrrha Nikos, was a good friend that he had come to truly respect and care for.**

**But then, in an instant, it was gone, all gone.**

"**Why, why did I have to do that, why did I lie, why did I ever think those stupid transcripts were ever a good idea, DAMMIT," Jaune cursed out loud, the memory of his transcripts discovery still a terribly memory in his mind.**

**He was found out, and it was Glynda Goodwitch who discovered the falsified documents, and had reported it to the Ozpin and the Council of Vale, and with that everything fell apart.**

"**I'm sorry, I'm so sorry everyone, please," the young knight recalled the reactions of those he saw as his friends after they discovered his lie.**

"_**Why, why did you lie to everyone, to me, why,"**_** the hurt eyes of Ruby Rose were like searing knives into his soul.**

"_**You stay far away from my sister, you lying creep," **_**Jaune honestly didn't know what hurt more, the figurative punch to his gut from her words, or the literal punch to his face from Yang's Ember Celica encased fist.**

"_**I knew that you never belonged here Arc, and now everyone knows it, now do me a favor and get out of my sight" **_**Wiess angrily stated, her anger at Jaune Arc very clear, and it hurt Jaune deeply.**

"_**You don't belong here," **_**that simple and blunt phrase from Blake stung, though not as hard as the others, but it stung very deep.**

* * *

The reactions from the assorted group, was obvious.

"Wh-why did, but I, I wouldn't, bu-but-," Ruby was beside herself at seeing this realities Ruby speak to Jaune in such a way and the hurt it brought Jaune hurt her in return.

"Wh-What the heck, why would I do that, this is bull," Yang stated as she saw what her other did, to her it seemed like a slap to her face.

"I know I hated Jaune, but that is going too far, this has to be fake," Wiess was outraged at this, not believing she could do such a thing.

Blake honestly had no words to say about her other actions.

"You can, and in this reality you did, though the reason it was like this is due to the RWBY in this world having a much lower tolerance to deception and bad deeds, so you end up taking slights such as Jaune's false transcripts much more seriously," then Mirai glared at Blake, making her feel terribly uncomfortable, "though strangely you didn't take it as personally when Blake's ties to a terrorist organization, which I take as being far more horrible than any falsified paperwork, came up later on."

Blake could only gulp as the rest of team RWBY felt quite saddened by this very true statement, while NPR, who had been glaring at the team for what they said to Jaune in the reality, and only frowned deeper at this true statement.

"Though if you think that it was only them, prepare for some real disappointment," Mirai said in a hard tone.

* * *

**It hurt, more than anything he felt before, but it all paled to the worse that happened.**

"_**Jaune, I wanted to believe in you, that you truly belonged here at Beacon, but I was wrong, so please Jaune, just leave,"**_** Pyrrha's words hurt, it hurt him so deeply, he truly felt like he wanted to die right then and there.**

**Jaune softly brushed his cheek, remembering the blow from Ren when he found out about his lie, his words hurt worse, **_**"Stay away from Nora and myself, don't ever come near us again."**_

**Nora said nothing, but followed Ren as he left, with a very disappointed look on her face.**

**With that, team JNPR was broken, and Jaune lost his team.**

* * *

Tears, more than she had ever shed, spilled from the eyes of Pyrrha, seeing herself throw away the man she loved, and all but shunning him for such a fickle and empty thing.

Ren and Nora honestly fared little better, seeing them throw away their friendship with Jaune as though it meant nothing.

* * *

**Jaune truly felt like it could not become worse than I did, he had just lost his team, he lost his friends, and his dreams were shattered.**

**Yet fate seemed to have a truly sick and twisted sense of humor.**

**Jaune was left shocked and broken while his sword and shield, Crocea Mors where on the desk of Ozpin, the man with a saddened look on his face while Glynda only glared at the boy.**

"**Mr. Arc, no, Jaune, I am sorry to have to tell you this here and now, and I wish this would never have happened, but I must confiscate your weapon from you, and give you a message from your family, one that I wish had never come," Ozpin then handed Jaune a letter, with one last parting phrase, "I'm sorry."**

**It was later that Jaune found that it was a message from his family, one filled with disappointment and anger for his actions, stating that he was an embarrassment and disappointment to their family, that he would steal the heirloom of their family and commit a crime to get into an Institution that he should never have gone to, but the ending of the letter had hit him worse than everything that had already occurred.**

**Disowned, Jaune had been removed from his own family, and now had nowhere to turn or to go.**

**If Jaune didn't feel like he wanted to live then, he truly wished he was dead now, and that feeling only got worse from there.**

**With hollow eyes and broken spirit, Jaune honestly looked at himself in a mirror, then he smashed the mirror with his fist, his Aura not even working as he said what those who were truly in a bad way would say.**

"**I don't even deserve to live."**

* * *

"This is too much, pl-please, someone help him, please," Ruby could only whimper out her plea as she saw her friend slowly come apart at the seams, wishing she could go and comfort him in some way.

The others fared little well, or worse.

"He, his family, why would they, but it, why," Wiess honestly had no idea what to say or think anymore, and honestly was taking it pretty bad as she had felt that because of Jaune's continuous flirting with her and continuous annoyance she felt that something bad should happen to the young knight, but what happened here however, "this is just too much, it's horrible."

"This is a joke right, they don't really mean any of that, it can't be like that right, and I-that punch it, it was, was," Yang wanted to deny what was happening, to say that it was all just a terrible joke and not really happening to Jaune, but one very sharp glare from Mirai and a holographic message from the facility intelligence drove the point home, especially since the message said it all.

'IT'S NOT A JOKE'

Blake just said nothing, she herself had not known Jaune very well, due to keeping to herself most of the time, but to see someone suffer so much and that she was part of it really weighed on her heart, another mark on her already long list of bad deeds in her life.

"Jaune, why, why did this, why did I, no," Pyrrha was in a truly despairing mood, seeing herself give up on Jaune, seeing his whole life fall apart, it was honestly the worst thing she could have seen.

Nora was crying into Ren's shoulder as she could not stand seeing her leader suffering in such a way, and Ren to feel his heart ache at seeing the man he thought of as a brother suffering so greatly for so little a crime.

"Just think, this is only the beginning of his nightmare," Mirai's offhanded comment caused the group to fear what was to come.

* * *

**It was then that Jaune then decided to do this, having left Beacon Academy, having overheard that Ozpin would be in a long meeting with the council and most of the staff was busy with other matters, he made his way to the cliffs of beacon, where he first began.**

**There he found the launch platforms were still working, having tested a large rock he found, and with that he launched himself into the deepest part of the Emerald forest. Though before he went on his obviously suicidal crusade, he found a weapon that had been left discarded in a bush, likely from a student that had quit and tossed it away, the weapon being just a simple longsword with a leather hilt.**

**With the thrown away weapon, he made his way through the forest, using the weapon with all the skill he could, even as his emotions drew in the local Grimm, with Beowolves and Ursas charging through the forest at the night, though Jaune would cut these creatures down, he was also being dealt damage that tore at his clothes, cracked his armor, and several gashes appeared that seemed to take much longer to heal than normal.**

**This was to prove to himself, if not for a moment, that he was a hunter, that he had what it took to be one, and that he could have been what he had always desired to be.**

**Through all of this, he finally reached the temple, he proved to himself that he was a hunter, that he could have made it if he had been given a chance, and as he stood at the center of the temple he shouted up to the heavens above, even as a storm started and soon he was hit by a deluge of rain.**

**Though now that he had made it, he had no idea what to do now, nowhere to go or to even belong …**

… **he had nothing and was now alone in his life.**

**He wallowed so deeply in his despair, that he did not even notice that the ground beneath the temple was breaking.**

**Jaune was snapped back to reality as the ground suddenly caved in under him …**

… **and then screamed out in pain as a large bone claw clamped down on him, courtesy of a heavily armored ancient deathstalker, larger and more armored than even the one Jaune had helped to kill during initiation.**

**The scorpion Grimm screeched loudly as it heralded its arrival, then it looked at the knight for only a moment, and then …**

… **it dug itself into the ground, using its claws to tear at the earth, each sweep slamming Jaune into the ground and it burrowed itself through the ground until both it and the knight were both out of sight.**

**With that, the area around the shattered temple became silent once again, the monster and the knight were now gone, the only witness to the event being a small camera in one of the trees used during initiation.**

* * *

The teams of RWBY and NPR were left staring at the screen in silent horror, seeing their friend in such a horrible state was already something they could not fathom, but …

… but **THAT**, the sounds of tears falling in silent fear at the knight's fate were palpable.

"Before you start soaking the ground with your tears, Jaune is not dead, as this is literally the very start of his journey so he is in fact alive," whatever feelings of joy they could have felt from this news were violently crushed and destroyed by Mirai's next words, "though between then and when things start looking up for Jaune … he will honestly wish he had died there."

* * *

**CHURN-RRNNNN-CHHRRNNN**

"**AGGHHHH," Jaune could only yell out as his body was dragged through the earth, his Aura already on the brink of completely failing and his body being pulverized by the shifting dirt and rocks as well as being viciously squeezed by the Ancient Deathstalkers claw.**

**After what felt like an eternity, the deathstalker broke through solid rock into a cave system, the impact causing Jaunes Aura to briefly collapse and sharp rocks pierced his back, leaving him with basically no Aura and in serious pain.**

**Yet he would not give in and die, not yet.**

"**RAAAGGHHHH," Jaune hefted the longsword, which was now chipped and cracked and stabbed the blade into the joint of the deathstalkers claw, piercing the connecting tissue.**

**SKKRRRRYYYYYAAAAA**

**The screech of the Grimm permeated the tunnel they were in and causing the deathstalker to violently flail its limb around, causing Jaune to be violently swung in every direction, but he only dug the blade deeper into the tissue, desiring to see the claw break apart from his efforts …**

… **unfortunately, …**

**KR-BING**

… **his sword broke first.**

**In that instant, as he witnessed his only weapon shatter to pieces, feeling his heart fill with despair at what had happened, the deathstalker hefted its claw back, and threw Jaune at the far wall in the back of the tunnel with great force.**

**Jaune slammed into the wall, a large indentation being formed from the impact, and to Jaune two horrible things happened …**

… **the last of his Aura was finally used up, and the protective barrier fell with a loud snap …**

… **and Jaune coughed out a large amount of blood as he felt immense pain in his chest and right arm, due to his ribs breaking and his right arm shattering from the impact.**

**Jaune fell onto the floor, blood dripping from his mouth as he struggled to stay conscious, his right arm hanging limply by his side, the broken sword having fallen next to the broken limb, and he was having a hard time trying to breath and felt his body have a mix of cold, hot, pain and numbness, he knew it was bad.**

**SKKKRRRRYYYYAAAAAA**

**No, it was worse, as he saw the deathstalker give out a loud screech, before it started to make its way over to him down the long tunnel.**

* * *

"JAUNE, RUN, GET OUT OF THERE," Pyrrha screamed aloud at seeing the sight of her leader and crush (yes it was obvious) as he was left practically maimed and at the mercy of a monster that even she doubted she could fight, much less win, against.

"RUN FEARLESS LEADER, RUN AWAY," Nora yelled out in panic, seeing that Jaune was now all alone and badly hurt at claws of a monster, one that was still after him.

Ren could only look in stark horror as he saw the man he thought of as a brother about to die at the hands of a monstrous Grimm, dredging up horrible echoes of his past.

Team RWBY were in a chaotic mix of screaming for Jaune to get out of there and worrying about his fate as they watched in silent fear of what was going to happen to him, Ruby and Yang both yelling for him to get out of there, Wiess actually having tears in her eyes seeing someone suffer so immensely and Blake could only grit her teeth in frustration at seeing a person she knew about to die in a truly terrible manner.

* * *

**Jaune was in more pain than he ever knew in his life, he couldn't feel his right arm now, he felt pain every time he took a breath, and his legs were both feeling weak, like they could break at any time.**

**Yet he knew he had to get up and run … NOW!**

**Jaune managed to grab the broken blade from its hilt and then began to limp his way to rather deep and dark crevasse that was next to him, the darkness from the crevasse set off some warning bells in his head at the danger that may lurk in the darkness …**

**SKKKRRREEEEEEE**

… **a warning bell that was drowned out by the inhuman screech of the Ancient Deathstalker that was rapidly approaching him.**

**Jaune didn't even try to stop as he leapt into the darkness, falling a short distance onto solid stone, his legs barely taking the impact, but he managed to lift himself up, but to his horror found himself looking over the cliff of a deep, dark pit that seemed to be bottomless considering how dark it appeared to be.**

**CHHRR-RRRRR**

**The rocks behind him were starting to fall, the cliff was a sheer drop, there was no way out, Jaune was trapped with no way to escape.**

'**This is it, this is the end,' Jaune realized that it was here that he would meet his end, it was in the dark depths of the earth in a dark pit that he would meet his end.**

**Then Jaune saw a small outcropping above the cliff on the wall near the crevasse, and saw he could scale up it even with one arm, and with this knowledge …**

… **he acted.**

**GRRROOOAAA-DDRRGGGGGG**

**The Deathstalker tore its way onto the cliff, the creature making its way over to the edge of the cliff, and peering down into the darkness, wondering where its prey had gone to.**

"**If I am going down," Jaune spoke, which drew the attention of the deathstalker, which turned to see its prey leaping at it from above, arm held high, "I am taking you with me!"**

**Jaune thrust the blade with every bit of strength he could muster and the little Aura he had left.**

**SCHK**

**The blade penetrated in a gap between the plates on the deathstalkers head, sinking to the hilt into it delicate internals of the monster, which reared back and roared, throwing Jaune onto its back, the boy holding the hilt of the blade in a death grip.**

**The monster thrashed around, trying to through the human off its body, but its thrashing soon took both it and its prey over the edge of the cliff …**

… **and plunging down into the darkness.**

* * *

"JAUNE," screamed Pyrrha, seeing Jaune fell down the cliff with the Grimm, Ruby was also wide eyed with fear and awe, Wiess held her hands over her mouth seeing Jaune about to die but yet also about to go out in truly inspiring way, Blake didn't know what to feel about what was happening, and Nora was cheering for Jaune to win and Ren was with Nora on what he wanted to happen.

* * *

**The pit … was DEEP.**

**Jaune didn't know how long it had been when he fell along with the deathstalker, but he knew it was a lo-!**

**BA-KAM**

**The deathstalker slammed into a large jutting rock that seemed to come from nowhere, and was still falling down the pit, the fall seeming to go for miles, and the darkness becoming even thicker as they fell.**

**Yet Jaune didn't let go of the blade, no matter how the Deathstalker thrashed as it fell, no matter how many times they slammed into the walls of the pit or into the rock spires that Jaune honestly believed ware coming out of – oh there was gravity dust in the rocks so they are floating rocks, wow.**

**KA-BLAM**

**One impact sent Jaune and the Grimm into a darker crevasse, and the two slammed truly hard into a jutting piece of rock, the impact tearing off a large amount of the deathstalkers armor and its left claw, but the impact also rattled Jaunes bones and almost made him lose his grip on the blade, but he still held firm and continued to hold firm through the fall.**

**Then the two fell into a massive cavern, larger than anything Jaune had ever seen, well he couldn't really see, but he felt how large it was as he fell.**

"**Grrr, damn you," he yelled as he fell, seeing that the darkness beneath was becoming clearer as the two fell, and the he briefly saw jagged shapes beneath.**

**The moment he saw, he gripped the sword as tight as he could, the deathstalker tilted in a way that both would be impaled instantly.**

"**Not yet," Jaune said, and just as he could all but touch the jagged stones, Jaune used the very last amount of his strength to force the deathstalker upward, with Jaune now on top of i-!**

**SKKKRRRRCCHHHHHH**

**CRRRNNCCCHHH**

**Jaune's vision became flecked with spots, and his whole body had become numb, he could hardly breath, and he felt nothing from most of his body, a terrible cold assailing him.**

**However, he could feel enough to know that the monster had gone still beneath him, and was able to turn his head enough to see jagged rocks piercing through the deathstalker, the monster was now completely dead.**

**Jaune did it, he won, he defeated an Ancient deathstalker … by himself.**

**What little of what he felt soon made him aware that he was smirking at this, and he uttered, through pain and numbness.**

"**N-not a … bad way … t-to go … out," the words came out pained and unsteady, but the underlying satisfaction of his actions were clear.**

**For in that moment, he had done it.**

**He had succeeded in defeating a powerful monster, and he did so on his own.**

**He did have what it took to be a huntsman.**

'**I did have what it took to be a hero …**

… **though, there is still so much more I wanted to do …**

… **I at least wanted a chance at love, though I guess that's gone now."**

* * *

The assembled group were crying openly now, seeing Jaune emotionally broken at the beginning had been incredibly hard to look at, doubly so when they realized their selves in this reality had been the cause of this.

Now …

Seeing Jaune physically broken, it to see him being brutalized and beaten by such a monster and the fact that he had to go to such terrible lengths to defeat it, leaving him in such a terrible state.

"I-I'll ne, I'll never say anything about leg breaking again," Nora stated, having heard the impact, and hearing what she knew were all of Jaune's bones breaking, including his legs, it made here realize how horrible those words could be.

"It's okay Ruby, i-its fine, i-it'll be f-fine," a sobbing Yang held her sister close, Ruby having seen how much abuse and damage Jaune ended up getting through what she saw as a horrible fight, with her friend being viciously mauled by a monster and then being left practically dead trying to fight it. Yang was not doing well either, she had known Jaune was still a good individual, and no matter what he may have done, it would never warrant something like what he had gone through.

Wiess and Blake were beside themselves, seeing the person they had trained with be left in such a broken state, being pushed so far emotionally and then physically. No crime he could have done, short of **ACTUAL** heinous acts, should ever merit such a terrible fate, not the flirting, the transcripts, none of it.

'Maybe just going on one date with him wouldn't really be that bad,' Wiess though, she already knew where her feelings had been going, even though she won't admit it (yet), but it would not hurt to at least give those who truly meant what they said a chance.

'I have to confess, I need to tell him how much he means to me,' Pyrrha herself had honestly made up her mind, she decided that the moment she got back to Remnant, she would confess to Jaune, no if's, and's or but's about it.

"Let's continue."

* * *

**Jaune lay against the back of the deathstalker, its body slowly beginning to fade away, simply staring upward into the darkness of the massive pit, feeling as his heartbeat as it kept beating, and found that it was starting to slow down, the coldness over taking his body.**

"**Even though I proved I could do it, the others won't know, and even if they did, would they ever believe it," Jaune stated as he spoke to himself, his fears and worries soon coming forth, seeing the disappointment, remembering the hatred, feeling the despair.**

"**Would they even -," Jaune felt his dread reach its peak as he gazed up, and suddenly, atop the stone pillars jutting up from the ground …**

… **were team RWBY, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren, and even the deputy headmistress of Beacon, Glynda Goodwitch.**

**If it were normal, if things were still okay, he would have been more than overjoyed to see them.**

**Now though, with the sever scowls on their faces, and the rage in their eyes spoke that they were not happy at all to see him.**

**Then he felt a sudden sense of weightlessness, falling as the deathstalker finally dispersed into ashen dust, and he felt himself be pulled downward.**

**Then as he fell, they all uttered a phrase all at once, and what they said …**

… **caused Jaune's heart to swell up …**

… **with ****DESPAIR****!**

"_**WHY ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!"**_

**VWHOOH**

**Jaune fell, now thankful that the numbness had reached his face, because he did not want to know what his face looked like at that moment.**

"… **why …"**

**SPLOSH**

"… **ah, so it was … water?"**

**As he sank, the liquid around him became thicker and darker, the liquid taking on a darker hue as he descended through the darkness, unable to move, to feel, nothing in the darkness.**

**As he fell, he could only feel the emptiness and hurt that built up as he remembered their words.**

"_**you're not strong."**_

**This thought rippled from Jaunes mind into the surrounding liquid, and coalesced beneath Jaune as weaving darkness he could somehow see …**

**VRRRCCCKKK**

**As he passed through, Jaune felt as though something shattered and fell away from him, that something had been taken away, leaving a gaping emptiness inside.**

"_**You're not special."**_

**VRRRCCCKKK**

**A louder shattering happened within, and he felt as something deep within him just fell away, now gone, never to return.**

"_**Heh, the only thing you had was that you were at least kinda tall, and even that is wasted on you."**_

**VRRRRRCCCRRRRAAAACCCKKKK**

**Like a shattering piece of stone, Jaune felt his whole existence just break apart, and when it happened, he felt his whole existence become much smaller, weaker, lesser.**

"_**The sword and shield of my father is wasted on someone like you, it was never yours to wield."**_

**SNAP**

**Within Jaunes mind, he felt all the knowledge, all the training he put into trying to use his grandfathers' weapon … gone, just gone.**

"_**You don't deserve to have such a name like Arc, your own name is too good for someone like you."**_

**KRRRRCCCHHHH**

**Jaune saw his name, the one thing he truly felt was his and his alone, fracture apart, and re-appear, though this time, feeling alien and foreign to him now.**

"_**Your sisters were such a pride and joy to joy to our family, why couldn't you have turned out like them, why did you have to be born like this, it would have been better …**_

… _**if you had been like your sisters."**_

**KRRRAAAASSSSSCCCHHHHKKKK**

**A final massive, resounding crack resonated through the darkness, as '?' broke through to the 'surface' …**

… **and fall straight onto a hard-stone floor, the viscous liquid dripping all around …**

… **her.**

**The now, small, weak, empty girl could only crawl pitifully as the thick, viscous fluid clung to her body, barely able to stand, still feeling the pain and soreness ache through her new body, reaching out to-!**

"**AAHHH"**

**Her hand recoiled, with five bleeding points in her small hand, the pain going deep into her.**

**Thanks to being in darkness for so long, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and finally saw what lay … all around.**

'**?' had fallen on a single rock platform roughly four meters across, and surrounding the platform …**

"**Thorns, nothing but thorns."**

**In a small, shuddering voice, the girl saw all around her, massive, twisting, gnashing thorn branches, the thorns easily several inches long, the whole area around her surrounded in the twisting roots.**

**She was trapped, alone, with no help … and no hope.**

**A small, weak, shuddering, hurt, young girl in a body that was basically a kids, covered with strips of cloth from what remained of her clothes and the damp cold liquid clung to her shaking body, with a name she remembered but one that was no longer hers.**

**She was now trapped on this rock, in a place she didn't know, weak and alone with no one to save her.**

"**Who would come anyway, for a nameless, weak nobody like me," the girl could only look down, on her knees as her hands, her small hands, balled into weak fists, and then a drop of clear liquid fell …**

… **followed, by another, and more, the girl now openly crying, trapped in this place, with no one to come for her.**

"**Ugh, guh, agh-agh, uuuuUUHHHHH," '?' cried out, she lost everything, her friends, her home, her name, her identity, she had nothing left to lose …**

… **except.**

**She looked up to the thorns again, one in particular, jutting out long and pointed just a short leap away …**

… **the girl now stood, staring at the massive thorn.**

"_**It would be quick, quick and painless."**_

* * *

"_**STOP!"**_

It was hard to determine who screamed first, the exact voice, or who was the loudest, but Mirai knew that it was loud.

"Enough, this is enough, this is horrible, its sick and vile, why would, I, I ghh-ghhhh," Wiess could only ground out her frustration, seeing her others actions cause such suffering and pain, and driving an individual to such a terrible path, "please, just stop."

"Were done okay, this show is over, just shut it off okay, shut it off," Yang was furious and sorrowful, seeing what had happened to Jaune, to make him like that, and that she was part of it.

"I-I'm, I did, I was, no-no, please, no," Ruby was almost catatonic with sorrow and hurt, seeing Jaune so broken, hurt and alone, reduced to a shell off his (now her) self, and she (her other self), played a part in reducing Jaune to such a state.

"This is too much, this is just … just, let's stop this and watch later, please," Blake said, wanting to stop the horrible viewing, to stop the scene.

"It's, just, why did this, why would they, ugh, this is horrible," Pyrrha, crying but trying to stay strong, was falling apart at seeing the one she loved to be broken and reduced to such a broken state.

"Fearless leader … please, don't," Nora begged for Jaune to not kill 'herself', and to stop what was happening to 'her'.

Ren was silent, his face holding back a roiling storm.

"The viewings come in sequence, they start and stop in a way that is almost uncontrollable, if you don't look now, the reality will actually begin a 'bleed-over', meaning that elements of that reality will enter here, and instantly merge to the most familiar thing from its source reality, which happens to be you guys, and trust me when I say this, I went through it once, and it was more horrible than any of you can imagine, so you either view now, or suffer greatly for not viewing," Mirai stated, as she pointed out this event happening, but some would have none of it.

"That is bull-shit, you're making it all up, this 'bleed-over', viewings, all of it, it's all bull," Yang yelled, her eyes had become red, holding Ruby close to her, her anger now clouding her thoughts.

"It's not bull-shit, this had happened, to me, directly, when I thought the exact same thing, the thing tha-," Mirai was interrupted, by Wiess.

"No, enough, were not viewing anything anymore, this is all just some sick joke, this is all made up, its on a screen for brothers' sake, it's a lie, its. Not. True." Wiess yelled out.

"Y-yeah, this is fake, it's not real, it's just a lie, a lie that you are telling us," Nora yelled.

"I would never do any of that to Jaune, none of that happened, it's a lie, and your lying to us, just for some sick sense of humor, isn't it," Pyrrha was stuck in her own denial, unwilling to believe what was happening, which she believed was all a lie, a sick and terrible trick being played on them, on HER.

"Shut this thing down, this isn't true, none of it is true, not even the first viewing, it's all just a lie that you made us watch, so shut it down and send us back, NOW," Ren screamed.

"This isn't a lie, a joke, a prank, or whatever the hell you all are trying to think it is, it's happening and if you don't look then it wi-," then Mirai went quiet, her face now switching from angry to scared, her eyes widening as she looked at the group.

Yang spoke.

"Huh, what is it, can't say anything, finally going to admit that this is a li-GHFGHHAAAAHHHH," then Yang seized up, her body shaking furiously and erratically.

"Y-yang, your squeezing, what's wr-RRRRYYYYAAAGGHH," Ruby than screamed out, her body also then seized with pained shaking and convulsions like Yang.

"Yang, Ruby what's go-OHHAAGGHEEEE," Wiess was left screaming in horrible pain, as she started to shudder and convulse, collapsing onto the floor as her body.

"W-what th-EEEGGGHHHYHYYYAAAAA," Blake was soon falling to the ground, convulsing as well as ripping pain tore through her whole body.

"Yang, Ruby, Wiess, Blake, what's going on, what g-g-g-g-GYYYYAAAAAA," Pyrrha then was also screaming in agony as she convulsed onto the ground, her whole-body writhing in agony.

"Pyrrha no", "Nora we have to ge-YYHHHHAAAAAAA", "AAAGGGHHHH, MAK-IIIII," Nora and Ren soon joined them in convulsing in pain on the ground.

"It's the 'bleed-over', the energy from that reality, including the thoughts and emotions of yourselves in that reality are being drawn into you, look at your arms, legs, your bodies, look at them," Mirai screamed at the writhing individuals.

"HRK, GRRRIII, RRRKKK," they all gazed to look at their bodies and the others, and saw to their horror and agony, a shifting material that shifted rapidly from gray, black, white and charcoal in a way similar to the black-white static image of a television, only the shifting was in the real world and blossoming out on to their bodies.

Yang lifted her arm up through the pain, and saw to her agonized horror as a second arm made of the material seemed to come into being stretching from her elbow, and gazed in horror as the others had legs and arms that seemed to form and split at their joints.

"AAHHHHGGGG**GGGG, AAAA**GGGH**HHHH**," they all gazed at Ruby who screamed aloud and could only look in horrified silence as a second head seemed to materialize from the base of her neck behind her head, the head made entirely of the shifting material, but with a rapidly morphing shape in place of a mouth, the 'mouth' releasing broken and distorted screams erupting from the inhuman extension.

"W**ha**t **is** ha**ppening**," Wiess ground out, her voice coming out warped and distorted, "**mak**e i**t STOP!**"

"There is only one way to stop this, we need to continue the viewing, that's the only way to stop what is happening to you," Mirai screamed over their warped yelling, "we need to see the rest of the viewing!"

"F-Fi**ne, **ju**st do **i**t**," Wiess yelled as she shuddered in pain.

* * *

'**?' slowly made her way over to the edge, she was ready to jump, to finally just end it rather than suffer in the long run.**

**She only needed to jump.**

"**Just jump … its simple"**

"**just jump …"**

"**jump …**

"**Jump?"**

'**?' teetered near the edge of the platform, trying to take those few steps … only to fall backward, and back away from the edge of the platform, going back to the middle.**

"**I can't … I can't do it … I just can't," '?' said, realizing that she did not wish to die, and that she wanted to live, even though the situation is what it was.**

"**I don't want to die, but I'm still trapped here, I can't end it, I can't escape, I can't do anything … *sniffle*, wh-what do I … what can I?"**

"_**Aww, is the little baby gonna cry, boo-hoo," **_**a mocking voice came from behind '?', and she swerved around, and to her horror, saw the apparitions of RWBY, NPR and finally Glynda Goodwitch herself, and 'Yang' wasn' done yet, **_**"your such a weak little bitch, you can't even end yourself right, and that was the easiest thing to do."**_

"_**Now Yang, we should recall how much of a dumb, low-bred animal this is, it probably can't even understand what we're saying, much less do anything," **_**'Wiess' tore into '?', and a smug sense of superiority dripping from her venom-laced words.**

"_**Hehe, it looks kinda cute curled up like that, it's almost like Zwie, though Zwie actually does things, this thing can't do anything," **_**the sadistic words of 'Ruby' were quite horrible to hear.**

"_**This thing couldn't even pass such a simple test, much less even survive in the world, honestly why is it still living,"**_** 'Blake' was entirely apathetic to '?' plight, not even remotely considering her a living being, much less a sentient creature like her.**

"_**Ahahaha, such a weak and small thing, it could break just by being punched, my hammer would wreck it completely, right Ren," "Yes Nora, it would probably break even from being slapped, much less from a fist, it would just break to pieces if you used your hammer on it, we want it to last, don't we,"**_** Ren and Nora talked aloud, bringing further despair to '?'.**

'**?' backed away, until she was at the center of the platform, then she realized that someone was in front of her, she looked up …**

… **and wished she had not.**

"_**Honestly, I wonder how desperate and foolish I was to have ever seen anything in you, I must have had the lowest standards in existence to have had anything to do with something as weak, pathetic and lowly creature like you," **_**'the voice of the one person who once meant so much to Jaune Arc hurt '?' immensely, though not s much as she had thought, but 'Pyrrha' wasn't done yet, **_**"Now I know better, now I know that I should have even associated or even known you … you lowly, pathetic **__**insect**__**."**_

'**?' could only stay rooted to that spot, as it then saw the dark material suddenly bubble up around it, and the apparitions still surrounded it, now giggling maniacally as the black fluid began to harden around it, leaving it stuck in a hardened prison of warped black material, and it felt it's body become heavy with pain and numbness.**

**Then as she was ready to pass out from the pain, '?' suddenly realized that the final apparition was coming closer, and gazed upward to suddenly look into the dark eyes of the apparition of 'Glynda Goodwitch', and she had a terrifying sadistic smirk on her face.**

"_**I hope you don't expect any form of peace, because you will only experience the suffering you should have suffered from the very beginning,"**_ **'?' could only weakly try to talk back, only to feel herself fall into the darkness of unconsciousness as the material fully swallowed her form, and Glynda's final words haunted her until she passed out.**

…

…

***gasp***

'**?' reawaked, now in a place of complete darkness, not able to see anything around her, and on a coarse hard ground, the tattered clothing still on her body.'**

**Then a deep red light erupted through the darkness, and in an instant, she gazed up …**

… **only to see 'Ruby' now holding her weapon, Crescent Rose, which was now more warped and sharpened, standing in front of her, with a sick and twisted visage of joy on her face, and then more lights came on, each a different color.**

**A yellow light revealed Yang.**

**White revealed Weiss.**

**A light with a blackish hue revealed Blake.**

**Gold revealed Pyrrha.**

**Pink for Nora.**

**Green for Ren.**

**Then in a burst of strong violet, Glynda was revealed atop a platform, soon revealing them all trapped in a twisted version of the Beacon combat arena, and around the arena, screaming jeers and crying out for blood and carnage were countless faceless black silhouettes, all looking like a shadow brought to life, dripping with black fluid.**

"**Now then, to all gathered her, this battle will now commence," 'Glynda' screamed as the platform ascended high above the crowd, "this battle will be between Team RWBY …"**

**YYYEEEEEAAAHHHH**

"… **Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren …"**

**YYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH**

"… **against the ****insignificant insect****."**

**BBOOOOOOOOO - "Go die fucker"**

'**Glynda' looked around, the twisted smile widening more as the crowd was further whipped into a frenzy …**

… **the she gazed at '?', who was terrified beyond all comprehension, as she then raised her whip to the sky.**

'**?' desperately pleaded for her not to …**

… **a plea that went unheard.**

"**BEGIN," Screamed Glynda as she brought the whip down, "KILL HER."**

**HYAAHAHA," 'Ruby' maniacally said as she swung her weapon.**

**SQUERSH**

**A gout of black liquid exploded outward, and the scene became a blur of pained screams, slicing blades, pounding fists, gunshots, explosions and finally the rending of flesh and splashing of liquid.**

* * *

"**Yes, yes, die, die you worthless insect, die screami-ii**iiaaaahhh, stooooppp, stop it, st**op** i**iiiieeeeheheh, bleed and suf**fffaaaaahhh, nooooo," Wiess screamed, the brutality of what was occurring was playing out on the screen, and Wiess writhed in pain as the emotions, violence and horror of herself on the screen tore through her mind and body using the bleed over as a medium to do this.

She was not alone in this suffering though, as the dark nature of the other selves on the screen tore through RWBY and NPR.

"**Hah, such a pathetic little shit, haha, look at how it breaks so easily, loooo**oooooaaaaahhhh, SHUT UUUPPPP, get the hell out, get ooouuuaaa**aaahahahaha,"** the darkness of Yang's dark self, tore into her, and Yang fighting as hard as she could against it.

"**Fun, this is fun, so much fff**fffnnnooo, NOOOO, STOP IT, STOP IT, PLEASE NO, NO MORE, NO MOOAA**AAAAHAHA, this is the best, you guys have got to trriiaa**AAAAHHH, STOP IT," Ruby screamed aloud as she powerlessly saw the horror being inflicted on Jaune and was forced to experience the twisted joy of her dark self.

"HRK, HIK, NO, NO, NOOo**oohh, such brutality, such pain, it's like a scene from a book, and the best part, is that I play a role tooo**ooOOAAAAHHHH, NOOOOOOO," Blake fought against her violent self's malice, but it still shined through into her, the warped mind of her dark self, forcing Blake to experience and feel what she did not want to.

"AAAAHHH, STOP, DON'T, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, IIIII**IIIII am not sorry to do this to you, I hope you suffer immensely from this, now dii**iiiaaaaAAAHHHHH, I'M SORRY, PLEASE STOP," Pyrrha's screams echoed through the room as she profusely begged and apologized for the actions of her dark counterpart.

"NO, DON'T, ENOUGH, I'M SORRY, I WON'TSAY IT EVER AGAIN, JUST STOOOO**OOAAAaand that's the other leg, now that's how you break them and good, and your still alive to, goody, then we can keep on goiiii**iiIIIAAAAAHHHHH, STOOOOPPP." "DAMN YOU, STOP IT, LEAVE HER ALONE, STOP III**IIIiiit's time to switch now, and don't worry, we still need you to suffer more, and this much is nowhere near enn**nNNOUGH, ENOUGH, THAT'S ENOUGH, STOOOP," Nora and Ren were in agony, the actions of their others and the energy of the bleed over tearing into the minds and bodies, the pain beyond excruciating and the trauma of their other selves actions tore into their minds.

"Okay, so the tiny spot of goodness is that you are not linked to your other reality selves, but rather you are linked to the trauma and despair induced mental apparitions that were based of this realities Jaune Arc's final interaction with your other selves and his mounting despair, which took on the form of those malevolent dark personas that you are currently linked to you now via the bleed-over, which is unfortunately the bad news," Mirai explained to the assorted group over the pain of the bleed-over, all of them writhing as the nightmarish beatdown on the screen played out. "Just hold on, we are reaching the main shifting point now, though what happens next will be incredibly painful …"

… unfortunately, the pain will be less emotional and more physical, and it will be bad for you guys."

* * *

**SKRA-BAAMMM**

'**?' was smashed into the center of the arena, her body practically mutilated and left a broken mess, dark black liquid dripped from countless injuries onto the floor of the Arena and dripping out to the surrounding ground.**

"**THAT IS THE END OF THE 35****th**** ROUND, YANG XIAO LONG HAS BROKEN THE MOST BONES IN THE WORTHLESS WORMS BODY, SECOND ONLY TO NORA VALKYRIE IN MOST DAME DEALT, RUBY ROSE LEAD IN MOST CUTS TO THE BODY, WITH BLAKE BELLADONNA AND LIE REN BEING SECOND IN THIS DAMAGE AREA. WIESS SCHNEE LEADS HER OWN IN TERMS OF DUST RELATED DAMAGE DEALT, BUT OVERALL DAMAGE GOES TO THE CHAMPION OF BEACON, YOU KNOW AND LOVE HER, PYRRHA NIKOS!"**

**YYYYEEEEEEAAAAHHHHH**

**The screams of the crowd and the words of Glynda became lost on '?' as she could only lay on the ground, her pain and despair welling up, truly wondering what she did wrong, why was this happening, what had she done …**

… **why?**

'**he…'**

'**. lp..'**

'**hel …'**

'**plea … elp'**

**Then '?' felt her neck get roughly gripped and was then lifted of the ground, hanging limply from the grasp of the one holding her.**

"**MISS XIAO LONG, YOU HAVE HAD YOUR TURN ALREADY, IT IS NOW MISS NIKO'S TURN," the voice of Glynda called out.**

'**help'**

"**Hey, I haven't even done nearly enough damage that I was planning to do, cant you bend the rule a bit, I know everyone else wants to see more carnage, AM I RIGHT," Yang's declaration received a scream of approval from the 'audience'.**

'**help me'**

"**ALLRIGHT MISS XIAO LONG, YOU HAVE MADE YOUR POINT," Glynda cleared her throat to announce again.**

'**please'**

"**IN A STUNNING TURN OF EVENTS, YANG XIAO LONG WILL BE FIGHTING ONCE AGAIN," a loud cheer erupted from the crowd.**

'**please …'**

"**Yeah, tear that thing apart sis."**

'**help'**

"**That thing deserves only the worst punishment possible, don't give it even an ounce of mercy Xiao Long."**

'**please help'**

"**Make sure to leave some for us to, it's fun to actually do some of what you see in books in real life."**

'**please help me'**

"**BREAK EVERYTHING, ESCPECIALLY THE LEGS!"**

'**please …'**

"**Make sure there is something for us, we need to let out a lot of hate."**

'**please … save'**

"**That thing doesn't deserve anything, it actually sickens me to have associated with such a thing, Yang … destroy it."**

'**Please, save me'**

"**All right you heard, you're with me for another round, lets make this one especially bloody."**

'**save me'**

**Yang then held the girl up tightly by the neck, chocking '?' making it very difficult to breath.**

'**Save me'**

"**Now," Yang's Ember Celica cocked itself, the shotgun now ready to unleash its lethal payload into the broken girl, "YOU-!"**

'**SAVE me'**

"**-DIIIEEEE!"**

**The arm shot forth, the fist literally in '?' face as '?' mentally screamed aloud.**

'**SAVE ME'**

* * *

"NOOOOOOO**OOOOO**OOOO**OOOOO,**" the scream of RWBY and NPR echoed through the room, "STOOOO**OOOPPPPP**PP!"

* * *

**The fist was about to hit when …**

'…'

'…'

'…**huh'**

'**?' opened her eyes, white with a black iris and no other colors, and found herself in a hallway, a dark and cold hallway filled with cold wind, but with a soft light coming from the end of it.**

'**?' felt her broken and damaged body refuse to budge, the pain keeping her down, and the despair eating at her soul.**

**Yet, when she looked at the light, she felt a warm and gentle presence, and a strong sense of assurance, like a natural effect from the light that promised her something, promised with assurance of what it gave.**

'**?' moved, feeling only one arm move, but she forced herself to move along the floor, the going was slow, the pain was great, and the cold cut deep into her …**

… **but she refused to stop, and continued making her way down the hall, the pain and agony were eating into her, but slowly she felt the pain …**

… **was decreasing.**

**Had she tried looking at herself, she would have seen wisps of gold-flecked light slowly close up her injuries, seep into her skin, and mending her broken flesh and bones as she felt her body become stronger and the pain fading faster.**

'**?' soon managed to stand and walked unsteadily to the source of the light, limping slightly and holding her side with her now working left arm while supporting herself with her right arm on the wall of hall way, her side the most hurt by the attacks of RWBY and NPR.**

'**?' kept going, moving more quickly and smoothly as she made it to the end of the hall, and enters …**

… **heaven?**

**Around her was a warm light of a sun in the sky, a few clouds in the amber colored sky, and she stood on a platform with a polished surface, slightly reflecting what was around, though the light was mostly reflected on the surface.**

**Yet it was the center of the platform that drew her full attention, with a pedestal at the center, and on the pedestal was what seemed like a long shard of solid light, floating in the center of the platform.**

'… _**do you seek it; do you seek salvation …'**_

**A soft yet powerful voice echoed out from amber sky, echoing out from the expanse as '?' looked around for the source, but stopped, realizing that rather than the voice coming from somewhere …**

… **the words just appeared within her mind, from the realm around her.**

'… _**it is here that you shall find the means to your salvation, but it is how you use it, how you wield this power, through your will, strength and morality that you shall find what you truly seek …**_

'**?' slowly made her way up to the shard of light, but before she could grasp it, she asked but one question.**

'**Why help me?'**

**She received an answer.**

'… _**because of what you are, what chose to be, and what you are capable of being, no more no less …'**_

'… _**we will meet again, -, at that time you will have found your salvation, your path, …'**_

'… _**and your future.'**_

'**?' hesitated no longer, gripping the shard, and the room erupted in light, the warm mix of gold-white light blossoming outward, and coalesced around '?'s body, healing the last of the injuries and then blossomed outward in a cascade of light.**

**The light parted, revealing the arena and 'Yang' bringing her fist toward her face.**

'**?' gripped the rod as time started again, but just before Yang made impact, '?' spoke, she did not know the language, but she knew the meaning.**

**Release**

'**Yang's' fist made impact, and … broke apart.**

**Light surged forward from '?', and from '?' skin, the light pulsed outward, and 'Yang's' arms, from where she gripped '?'s neck and from the rest of her other arm down, broke into pieces, shattering apart as her Ember Celica gauntlets were ruptured apart, falling to the ground as the shells in the gauntlets exploded, sending the superheated metal of the shots straight back into Yang.**

'**Yang' didn't even have time to look surprised as the light shattered her Aura and arms, leaving her completely defenseless as the dust rounds in her gauntlets blew up all at once, sending the superheated metal and explosive force straight into her body, blasting into her chest, stomach and face, with the metal cutting deep into her flesh and the blast tearing away large portions of her flesh.**

'**Yang' had been completely mutilated in an instant … but it wasn't over yet.**

**THRUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAMMMM**

**The light blasted outward, tearing apart the arena and blasting Yang like a cannon ball straight into Glynda, blasting her off of her platform and smashing deep into a pillar in the arena, the pulse blasted away the rest of RWBY and NPR, but it didn't just blast them.**

**A small shudder near their person.**

"**What the fu-!"**

**BTOOOOOOOOMMMMM!**

**Followed by thunderous explosions as their weapons and sections on their hips and backs … exploded.**

* * *

"**GYAAHHH**HHHAAAARRGGHHH, G-ghodhs ith hursch, kieant fhel fasche, nhumbsh …" Yang chocked out, the strange material now completely black and covering her arms, torso and face, leaving her unable to properly speak or move.

"**AAGGGHHHHH," "YYYAAAAAAHHHH," AAAARRRGGGGHHHH," "GHHHYYYYAAAAAAA"**.

Screams erupted from the others in the room, the black of the matter now spread all over their bodies, leaving them screaming and in pain, the assorted guests were left collapsed either on their seats or on the floor, twitching in pain as the material transferred the pain and memories of their dark selves that were now mutilated beyond by what had happened was transferred to them.

"ITS NOT OVER YET," Mirai yelled out.

* * *

"**GRYYYYAAAAAHHHHH," the apparitions screamed out in pain and agony, the same agony that they inflicted onto '?' earlier as explosions erupted from their weapons and -!**

'**OUR AMMO!'**

**Through the tearing pain, the apparitions realized what it was that had exploded, and left them near mutilated, the dust ammunition in their weapons and on the ammo belts had exploded all at once, and when the pulse hit them it had weakened their Aura, leaving them far more vulnerable to damage.**

**The ammunition explosion finished the job of wiping out their aura and eviscerating their bodies, leaving them in a broken and mangled state with their weapons basically destroyed when the ammunition they had prepped on their weapons, which were loaded with highly explosive and incredibly powerful types of dust ammo at the time.**

'**Nora's' hammer, 'Ren's' gun-knives, and 'Weiss's' dust using, and ****infused** **rapier were destroyed and blasted through the whole area or into the bodies.**

'**Blake's' gun-katana was also blasted apart, She had been holding the weapon at the time, but had brought it up in an (obviously) foolish attempt to defend herself, and now had a mutilated hand and the blade was sunk deep in her left shoulder, so deep it couldn't be removed, not without intense medical aid.**

**Only 'Pyrrha's' and 'Ruby's' weapons survived (partly) intact, though the gun function had been destroyed and the weapons were twisted from the damage, leaving them difficult to hold, and that didn't count the wielders who were themselves without Aura and with deep burns and torn flesh from the dust ammo explosions on their ammo belts and patches.**

**Yet they still stood, 'Yang' and 'Glynda' were getting back up after the impact, 'Glynda's' own Aura flickering from having to wear the damage of 'Yang's' impact and their impact with the wall, but they were now re-!**

**SCCCHHHRRROOOOOOMMM-CRRRMMMMMBBBLLEEEE**

**A second pulse of light blasted out, slamming into them and knocking down everyone in the room, including the 'audience' …**

**BRRRIICCCRRRMMCRRRRBLLLLEE**

… **and the entire arena broke apart, the whole thing coming down, 'RWBY', 'NPR', 'Glynda' and the 'Audience' could only look in shock and terror as several tons of rock, steel and more came right down on their bodies …**

… **all except '?', who was now beneath a dome of light, one that protected her from the falling debris.**

**The assorted apparitions couldn't even run as the whole building came down on them, crushing them to death.**

'**Nora' tried to run, only to trip on a crack that ripped through the floor, only registering that she was falling …**

**KRRRSSSSSCCCHHHH**

… **just as a massive chunk of debris completely crushed her entire torso, ending her.**

* * *

"GAAAHHHAAAUUUUUHHH, HAAAAAHHH, guuuhh," the dark material burst out from Nora's body upon the death of her dark self, leaving her now squirming in pain as the dark material dissipated into nothing, "th-that … huuurrrt."

* * *

'**Blake' tried her best to avoid the falling the debris, moving as swiftly as she could, even with a blade in her shoulder that was slowly cutting into her as she moved, she could st-!**

**SKKRRSSHHH**

**A falling debris fragment hit the blade, causing it to tear through her flesh and causing 'Blake' to stumble as the agony of th-!**

**SKKKRRSSSHHHHHH**

**Her thoughts were ended as chunk of rebar lined debris punctured and crushed her at the same time, smashing her body apart, ending the apparition's existence.**

* * *

"AAAAGGGHHHHHHHHH, GUUUHHHH, AAAaaahhhh," Blake felt her body get torn into with sheer pain as her apparition died in such a brutal and violent manner, the pain only abating when the dark material in her body dispersed into the air and vanished from existence, "ugh, so … much … pain, hurts … everywhere."

* * *

'**Yang' was barely able to turn when …**

**KRRSSSCCHHH**

… **a large piece of debris, a mix of metal support and solid rock, crushed her left leg, leading to Yang falling onto the ground.**

"**GRAAA-AAAA-KRRR-GRAAAA-GUUUU, GRRLLBBSSHHH," several large chunks fell onto her body, each impact crushing her bone muscles and everything else, until she vomited her pitch black blood and her skin split open, causing black blood and crushed flesh and bone to leak out.**

"**MRGLE, MRAKE ITRSCH SCHTR-!"**

**CRRRNNNNCCCHHHHH**

**A big chunk of metal laced debris fell corner first on her head, the impact split her head open like and overripened melon, killing her at last.**

* * *

"GGGRRRRUUUGGHHH, uuughh, agh," Yang was left twitching from the sheer agony of her apparitions long and drawn out death, the pain and hurt left her plastered on the ground, unable to do anything but twitch in pain, even as the 'bleed-over' material finally disappeared from her body and reality, "so much hurt … 'uuggh', nothing but hurt … pain all over … can't move anything … at all."

The others were also left as collapsed messes on the ground, although.

"Okay, looks like Weiss, Ren, Ruby and Pyr-!"

"GYYAAHHHHhhhhaaaaaaahhh."

"Correction, now its Weiss, Ruby and Pyrrha's apparitions that are still alive, Ren's apparition just bought it," Mirai grimaced at the image shown, "ugh, a steel girder, terrible way to go."

* * *

**The falling debris soon stopped, and '?' could now see the … large greyish, clouded sky above and the dark inky abyss below as she saw the whole 'arena' was just on a huge platform, floating in the middle of this dark abyss of a reality, though in the distance stood a soft light, gleaming in distance.**

**RUMBLE**

**Then it turned back to the broken remains of the 'arena' and saw as several large rocks floated upward …**

… **only to collapse down haphazardly, revealing the forms of 'Ruby', 'Weiss', 'Pyrrha', and 'Glynda'.**

'**They look like hell,' '?' thought, seeing that the survivors of the collapsing Arena were all in horrific shape.**

'**Ruby' had lost one of her eyes, a quick look revealed that a sharp piece of metal had pierced her left eye, her right arm was mangled with cuts and injuries, her legs had heavy lacerations all over and there were large burns and deep injuries around her hips, likely from when her dust ammo exploded. Speaking of that, her weapon had several parts blasted out of it, which left the weapon jammed mid-transformation, leaving many open and sharp metal pieces sticking out of the weapon, with 'Ruby' now struggling to keep a hold on her mangled weapon without cutting herself on it.**

'**Weiss' was now far from resplendent, the damage from the pulses, her dust exploding on her, and the debris from the arena had left her a mutilated shadow of her former self, her outfit was ripped and torn, with black blotches blooming out onto her clothes from her many injuries. Her right arm was deeply charred, her failing 'Aura' barely stopped the damage from Myrtenaster's detonation, leaving her arm with many burns and multiple deep cuts from the fragments, there was also her left arm, which was better off but only slightly, with several large cuts and a deep gash from the falling debris of the 'arena'. She was slightly unsteady due to a multitude of deep cuts and large gashes caused by the falling debris.**

**However, what caused '?' to worry … was 'Pyrrha'.**

**Though also relieved as the only greater threat, 'Glynda', basically sacrificed herself by trying to either stop or tank most of the debris, leaving many pieces of metal and rock puncturing her body or leaving large gashes, bleeding profuse-…**

**PAFF**

'**Glynda' fell over, and her body then darkened before breaking down into a pile of powder, the powder as black as the apparition's existence.**

'**Glynda' was gone.**

'**Pyrrha', for her part, was the least injured of the survivors, her armor had been broken at certain points and multiple deep cuts were on her body, they were not as heavy as the others and she was still standing tall, though in obvious pain, and her weapon Milo was still intact, though no longer able to shift, leaving it in spear form, while her shield had a crack on it but no real damage.**

**Also she was seething with rage.**

**RRRRRMMMMM**

**The barrier that was around '?' also dissipated, so there's that as well.**

"**You … you … YOU, you worthless little piece of filth, what was that power, what did you do to us, we are what's important, we are the special ones, you don't deserve to hold such power," 'Pyrrha ground out in rage, as she prepared to attack '?' ready to annihilate '?' even without her 'Aura', "I will kill you then I will take that power and place it where it belongs, with the truly special ones … such as us."**

"**You tell them PyrACK, still hurting, hurt that piece of trash for me Pyrrha," 'Ruby' said through the pain of her injuries.**

"**Kill it, kill that thing, smash it apart, break it to pieces, just kill it," 'Wiess stated, grinning at the victory to come, seeing Pyrrha was still up and ready to fight.**

**The two cheered for the victory of the strongest and 'Pyrrha grinned madly as she made ready to skewer '?' with everything she had.**

'**?' tried to make ready to defend, though with no knowledge of combat and a glowing rod of metal for a weapon, she knew the odds were against her, and she braced for the pain …**

… **then the voice echoed in her again.**

'… _**do not feel fear, for you are not alone in this journey …'**_

'**Pyrrha dashed forward, ready to skewer '?' while 'Ruby' and 'Wiess' cheered her on.**

'… _**and the one who will by your companion in this journey as you will theirs …'**_

'**Pyrrha' now stood almost in front of '?' who simply stood her ground with tears in her eyes, holding the metal rod. Ready to swing at 'Pyrrha', an attempt that left her chuckling inside.**

'… _**that one is now …'**_

**Pyrrha thrust forward, ready to impale '?', eyes wide with glee and insanity.**

'… _**here.'**_

**SHHHKKKRRRSSSSSCCCCHHHH**

* * *

"GRRYYYYYYAAAAAAHHHHHHUUUuuugghh," Pyrrha screamed aloud as the others saw her grip her head as the material burst from her body and disperse into the air, before she curled up on the floor and held her head in her hands in agonizing pain, "agh, urgh, ugh, aaah, I'm …. Ah, I'm sorry."

Pyrrha lay collapsed on the ground as the pain abated very slowly, while the others from where they lay now looked at the screen, seeing what had happened.

"One down, and there it is," Mirai quipped.

* * *

**"…"**

**"…"**

**"…"**

**No words were spoken, nothing was said, neither from '?' or from 'Ruby' and 'Wiess', who could only look in adject horror at what they now saw.**

**It was a … bug?**

**Standing on two legs, but covered in a deep black chitinous armor, but a white head that seemed more like a spiked helm with two black circles that seemed to be eyes, a ragged dark grey cape that gave off the appearance of insectoid wings, and it had two arms that ended in three claws arranged like a humans hand, with one acting as the thumb and two as fingers. Its height made it to be about '?' height, so about the size of a ten to fifteen-year-old.**

**Yet it was what was in its right 'hand; that drew the attention of the assorted individuals.**

**It had the appearance of a small lance, or a large bolt, the weapon was essentially a long circular cone with an uneven bottom with a pole sticking out from the bottom, the whole thing was pure white, making it a white lance …**

… **a lance that was buried into the back of 'Pyrrha's' head, having instantly killed her as the 'bug' came down from above, driving its lance into 'Pyrrha's' head before she could drive hers into '?'.**

'**Pyrrha' was dead.**

**Leaving all three with their unknown newcomer.**

"**Wha … what the hell are you, what did you do," 'Ruby' screamed at the thing, desiring an answer from the 'bug'.**

"**N-no, no, th-this can't, it can't be, yo-you, you will pay for this you damn BUG," 'Weiss' screeched as she yelled at the newcomer.**

**However, the 'bug' paid the two apparitions no mind, completely ignoring their existence, and turning to face …**

… '**?'.**

'**?' for her part, was a bit startled by the 'bugs' interest in her, but it had saved her, and it didn't seem to be threatening her in any way, plus she felt referring to it as 'bug' was a bit rude and racial in her mind, which made her feel bad.**

* * *

"I-oof, ow, okay still hurting, but yeah I agree with referring to someone as their species is kind of a racial problem, but at least she has the excuse of not knowing what it really is and feeling bad about that so tha-ayee, still in pain, still hurting," Blake went back to lying down, the others now looking at and trying to make sense of their friends savior.

"Now things as really moving along," Mirai stated as she looked at the screen.

* * *

**The bug then pointed its lance at '?', with '?' stumbling back, now worried that she would now have to fight this thing, and 'Wiess' and 'Ruby' were still irate about it killing 'Pyrrha' but now thought that was indeed with them, and was going to attack their enemy.**

**Yet it didn't, it didn't move, just held the lance pointed at '?'.**

**Then '?' noticed that the metal rod she was holding was starting to both glow and felt a bit warm in her hand, and she held it as it glowed.**

**Then she saw the 'bug's' own lance glowed as well, with small glyphs appearing at certain points on the lance, then the 'bug' lightly thrusted the lance, and it thrusted at the metal rod that '?' held.**

'**?' thought that maybe it wanted the rod, and then took it in both hands and held it out the 'bug' thinking that maybe that it wanted it.**

**The bug shook its head from side to side, the sign that '?' and any human took for the answer 'no'.**

**Then the bug, much slower, made the movement of pointing the lance at '?', doing this at least three times.**

'**Does it … want me to do that to?'**

'**?' then held the metal rod in the same way the 'bug' held its lance, lucky that the 'bugs' hand was similar to a humans hand, and managed to grasp the rod at one end in her right hand and the pointed it to the 'bug' like how its lance was pointed at her.**

**Then she noticed the glow from both her rod and the 'bugs' lance intensify, with the light becoming near blinding but somehow manageable to her, and the bug showed no sign that it was bothered by the light …**

"**GRYYYAAAAAHHH!", "IT BUUURRRNNS!"**

… '**Ruby' and 'Wiess' however, were being scorched by the radiant light, their dark skin blistering and tearing as they were bathed in the radiance, and they backed away to anything they could find to avoid the scorching light.**

**Then the light dimmed and '?' found in her hand not the rod of glowing white metal.**

**In her hand she held a lance, similar in design to the one held by the 'bug', now parallel to its own lance … no, not a lance.**

**The weapon as not a lance or any mere weapon, '?' acknowledged this as fact, and became more assured of this fact as she felt memories start to form in her mind, memories and knowledge that began to fill the void that had been left inside her existence, yet instead of ridding her of the empty feeling, the feeling instead began to feel more like a natural part of her, like it was naturally meant to be there and that it was something she knew was normal for her.**

**Returning to the weapon, she came to further understand that the weapon was not a lance, nor was it of mundane construction.**

**The knowledge came to her, imbuing with the knowledge of the weapons power, of how it's purpose in fighting was but a secondary function, for its true purpose was beyond any armament that '?' had known of or would ever know of, a purpose that surpassed any known weapon of the world she once knew, going beyond the strength, function and power of any weapon of Remnant.**

**This was not a mundane weapon … it was a mystical armament, a true, REAL, MAGIC WEAPON!**

**It's true name, was the 'Dream Nail', and its true purpose, was to allow its wielder to pierce through the veil of reality and enter the realm of dreams …**

… "**This lance, no, this Dream Nail, with it one can strike an individual with its aetheric power and gain entry to the realm of the dreams, the place where one is at the peak of one's strength, the home of one's 'true-self' or the place where the individual is their real, honest, unbiased and unhidden self …"**

"… **yet is also hidden away, locked within their own shell, the shell of ones ideals, the individual that one wishes to be, that one tries to rise to become and be seen by all others as, the 'ideal-self' the individual that only truly exists within ones dreams, acting as a shell that encapsulates the 'true-self'."**

'**?' looked at the 'bu-no.**

'**?' looked at the 'one who would be her companion', a shadow of a smile gracing her lips as she lowered her Dream Nail, with her (yet to be) companion doing the same with its own Nail.**

"**I don't have it, the 'ideal-self', I have no 'self I dream to be', all I have now … is me," then '?' looked to where two wounded and scarred apparitions had emerged from behind a long piece of rubble, "… and my regrets."**

**My 'companion-to-be' said nothing as it turned to face the apparitions of 'Ruby Rose' and 'Wiess Schnee', and held up its dream nail as the two apparitions get ready to fight with what little they had left, 'Ruby' getting into position to charge at the both of us, while 'Wiess' had several glyphs appear, though they were all shooting type-glyphs that fired elemental dust and most were flickering in and out of existence.**

'**?' and her silent companion said nothing as they both took a stance, though '?' was not a steady as she had no shoes left yet her feet were uninjured due to the healing effects of the radiant light, and she felt herself naturally relax into a thrusting stance while her companion held its Nail slightly like a sword, yet its calm and still form showed that this was its natural form of fighting, the dark 'eyes' of its mask-like face bore into the apparitions, causing both to quake with fear at its gaze.**

**It was then that a feeling started to take hold of '?', the feeling of energy that seemed to radiate from her own body and flow throughout her body, and coalesce in her being, and this energy was linked directly to her Dream Nail, and she felt as she and the Dream Nail became further united in body, yet her mind was still her own, aware of what was happening within her, and what it meant.**

'**So, I am becoming my weapon, my weapon and I function as a singular self, my weapon, my Dream Nail is me, and I, the Dream Nail.'**

'**?' now focused her gaze, the apparitions now feeling the change coming from '?', feeling as all the fear she once held for them disappear, now replaced with a powerful conviction, and a strong sense of will and focus.**

"**Th-THIS, this changes nothing, you will still be a worthless loser and always will be, nothing will change that, NOTHING," 'Wiess' shrieked at '?', expecting her to get angry, or rush forward in some way.**

**Nothing, '?' neither responder nor even seemed to acknowledge her words.**

"**Yeah, we are going to grind you both to the dirt, both the worthless insect and the actual insect, you will both die here," 'Ruby taunted, trying to get a reaction from them.**

**Nothing, no response, the just stood before the two, waiting for them to attack … waiting for the first move.**

"**Well, say something, or are you to much of a lonely loser to say anything," 'Ruby' tried again.**

**Nothing.**

"**Say something, you vile wretches," Wiess screamed at them both.**

"…"

**Nothing but near silent breathing.**

* * *

"**Those vile pieces of crap, I'll kill them, I'll kill both of thee**eeaaagghhh, y-yeah, keep t-talking, y-you w-w-wont b-be talking fo-for m-m-much l-lo-longeeerrr," Wiess ground out through the apparitions ranting as it expressed its desire to kill the person who was once Jaune and the bu-um, the not Jaunes companion.

Ruby just grit her teeth, not letting a word out and refusing to speak any more of her apparitions disgusting curses.

The others were mostly focused on the fact that there was supposedly 'magic' in the reality they were seeing, and that the one they were watching, the 'former Jaune Arc' was now wielding a magical weapon that could allow someone to enter ones dreams.

"To be clear, the Dream Nail, while still being incredibly powerful, has some limits, the main one is that it can only perform it's dream spell on an individual that is either asleep or unconscious, though once inside, the wielder usually ends up in conflict with the ideal or 'dream of being' version of the individual in the dream, and they must defeat this person to succeed, though it ends up being bad for the dreamer, as the Mystic enchantments of the dream nail can essentially 'eject' the wielder while the dreamer remains asleep or unconscious, though the wielder still suffers some backlash from being defeated, mostly light injuries and a strong sense of vertigo, but once it passes one can try again and again, until either they succeed or the individual starts to awaken," Mirai said, allowing the allotted group to learn the main function of the of the arcane weapon, then Mirai smirked as she added some new information, "though that is its primary function, its true power stems from how it acts as a powerful catalyst to abilities of immense power and strength, the likes of which are only achievable by those who wield mystic power that only a minute few can ever match, or by beings that to simple individuals such as humans, these beings have gone by the name …"

"… demon …"

Before the group could speak regarding this so-called immense power that was so great, Mirai finished her statement with her last words …

… words that sent a shiver up the spine of all present.

"… and … GOD."

The groups silence at this claim was palpable, and they did not utter a retort at the sheer seriousness of Mirai's tone, so serious that they knew she was not joking.

"The conclusion to this viewing is drawing near, let us finish it," Mirai stated as she and the others watched the screen, the twitching Ruby and Wiess also twisting around to see the ending.

* * *

"**Gaah, this is going nowhere, let's just kill the bug and continue torturing our own bug," 'Ruby' claimed loud and proud, still thinking everything was going 'their' way.**

'**?' and her companion simply stared at the apparitions, two sets of eyes, one hollow and empty, the other focused and cold, neither made a sound or gesture as both simply stood in their position of battle, waiting for their opponent's to make the first moves.**

"**Your right, let's just kill the intruder and then take it nice and slow with the worthless one, we'll make that pile of living garbage regret EVER doing this to us," 'Weiss' declared, though with nothing to back up her claims, given 'hers' and 'Ruby's' state.**

**No response, no movement, no reaction, just a silent, empty stare, and resolve that resonated with that emptiness, but held a conviction stronger than any other.**

"**I'll end this …"**

'**The fight …'**

"… **RIGHT NOW," 'Ruby' shot forth, dark petals fluttering in her wake as she dashed at the two, traveling at speeds that only a trained individual could track or even perceive, and she believed the two were neither …**

… **she was wrong, for only one was not able to perceive her speed, at first but now …**

'… **begins.'**

… **THEY could.**

**SLIIICCCEEEE**

'**Ruby' swung her weapon, the warped Crescent Rose, fully believing she had cleaved the two in half, expecting that 'her' speed had easily allowed her to end them both.**

**Except …**

'**Huh, where di-?'**

"**RUBY!"**

'**Hu-!'**

**BBSSSHHCCRRRKKKK**

* * *

"**GYYYAAAA**AAAAaaahhhh, guh, uh," Ruby could only moan and lightly whine as the dark material dispersed from her body, burning to nothingness as she simply lay down, though Yang came and helped her into her seat, Yang herself having recovered enough to move though not very quickly.

"Agh, th-thanks Yang, hah-hah, and th-thank you, J-Jaune, for finally stopping her," Ruby thanked before she felt the need to rest for a bit, though she still watched the viewing to its conclusion.

* * *

'**Ruby' lay on the ground, dead.**

'**?' and her unnamed companion removed their Dream Nails from the body of the dead apparition, having leapt above and speared through the embodiment of despair and watched as it burned away and died.**

**Leaving only one.**

"**You, you, you, you," Wiess lifted both hands up, ready to fire a barrage from her glyphs, "YOU VILE PIECES OF SH-!"**

**SCCHHRRIIISSSHHH**

'**Weiss' blinked, seeing only the 'bug' before her, yet her real target and source of anger (and existence) was nowhere to be fou-!**

**SPLLRRTT**

'**Weiss' realized two things …**

… '**her' left arm was on the ground several feet away from 'her' …**

… **and a large gout of black blood was erupting from her shoulder, the one where her arm used to be.**

"**G-GR-GRRYYYYAAAAA, MY ARM, MY AAAARRRRMMM," Wiess shrieked, seeing the source of her rage, the worthless thing, holding its new weapon, the weapon glowing with a white glow as '?' gazed impassively at the apparition of the Schnee heiress.**

"**You, I WILL END YOU, YOU-YOU FU-!"**

**SKKRRRSSHHH**

"**AAAAAHHHHHHH!"**

'**?' watched as 'Wiess's' right arm collapsed in front of her, having moved near instantly using the power that flowed through her new form, and something else, an almost instinctive knowledge on how to use the Dream Nail, the knowledge mixed with the power, allowing her mind and body to execute the strikes and attacks that brought out the full strength of the Dream Nail.**

"**GRRUUHH, mrgle, GREEECCHH," a gout of dark black fluid erupted from the mouth of 'Wiess', blood pooling on the floor and dispersing into the air.**

**BLAMPH**

'**Weiss' fell onto the floor, literally disarmed, and in a puddle of her own blood, the life in her body slowly ebbing out of her.**

'**?' looked at 'Wiess' moving the Dream Nail as is to finish her off …**

… **only to lower it down, now just looking with a sad and dispassionate gaze and the 'thing she once feared' that lay dying in a pool of its own blood on the ground.**

"**Ugh, finrsshh, frrsshh, issch, gruuu, frrsch ischh …'**

'**?' just looked at the dying thing, her 'companion' joining her in looking at the dying thing.**

"… **grrsch, vrrsscchh, urschh … ithrsch krrsch … plrrssch …"**

**They only watched silently as it faded, its words a garbled and indiscernible mess from its dark blood flowing from its mouth, yet they did not need to wait for long.**

"… **grrsscchh … Plschrr … hrpsch … hrrrk … rrk …. Urr …"**

* * *

"**RRRRUUUUuuuaaahhh**hhhRRRRRAAAHAAAHHHhhhh, hah-hah-haaaahhh," Wiess lay where she was, laying splayed out on the ground as she felt a massive strain and a deep emptiness come through her as the dark material faded from her body into the air, "haah-haah, so that-ah, is what-hah, dying-ugh, feels … like, oww."

With the death of the apparition of Wiess, RWBY and NPR were now free from the influence of the dark material, and all of them where now slowly, yet steadily, recovering from their ordeals, yet it would be a while before they all fully recovered from what happened to them.

"You have been freed from the effects of the 'bleed-over', but the conclusion to this viewing must be done, so let us continue to the end," Mirai turned to the viewing, as did the others as the reality continued.

* * *

**"…"**

**It was over.**

'**?' watched as the apparition of Wiess crumbled to nothing … and disappeared.**

**They were gone, the apparitions created from the despair of the one known as Jaune Arc … were gone.**

**Now all that was left was the broken and ruined remains of the mindscape of the one who was gone …**

… **the broken dream in the hollow mind of what was once 'Jaune Arc'.**

**The world slowly seemed to fade, the grey expanse and the black darkness now replaced by a lightless expanse of pure nothingness, and the platform was now a flat and featureless slab on which her and her 'companion' stood upon.**

**A place emptiness, of a lost life, a lost identity, and a lost existence.**

"… **no."**

'**?' moved to the very center of the platform, standing at the very center of the fallen mind …**

… **and she then raised her Dream Nail, the Nail radiating a mixture of both the radiant light and the living emptiness as it swirled around her and the Nail, her Companion stood a slight distance away, its cloak swaying in the gust created by '?' Dream Nail.**

'**?' then pointed the Dream Nail down … and drove it into the platform.**

**SRRROOOAAAAAAMMMMM**

**A pulse of pure Radiant light and Living darkness pulsed out in every direction, the two energies surging through the emptiness, trying make this empty world into something … and yet …**

'**It's not enough, it's not enough, it won't make it … I don't know what to, huh.'**

**Then she saw her insectoid companion stand before her, and in its clawed hand, it held its own Dream Nail, surging with its own power …**

… **power greater than what '?' was using, and of a purity that '?' knew that her unknown 'companion' was unimaginable leagues above her in terms of power.**

**Then the unknown insectoid being thrust its Dream Nail … straight into the ground, directly in front of '?' and parallel to her own Dream Nail, and the energy surged forward, linking to '?' own Dream Nail and into '?' herself.**

'**?' herself felt her eyes widen, her irises changing, her left iris now a light grey and her right iris now a dark grey, one of light, another of darkness, and the power that was around her SURGED outward.**

**RROOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR**

**A mighty sound came about as she felt the world fill with the two energies, both now beginning to make the world around them both.**

**Yet at the same time, she felt something else come through her, as something within her also went through her 'Companion', both aware of this and knew the other was aware as well.**

**SKRROOOOOAAAAAA**

**It didn't matter, the pasts they held no longer mattered, all that counted now, for the both of them … **

… **was their future, one they would meet …**

… **TOGETHER****!**

**Light and Dark swirled around the two, then pulsed outward in all directions, the dark gained vigor and shape as it formed the reality itself, and the light surged through all, animating the reality and building the empty world.**

**The light and dark continued to surge out, and then in a matter of moments, it slowly died down, and all became still and calm, the only sound being the wind that blew through where the two stood.**

'**?' and her unnamed 'companion' looked out to the world around them, finding that the platform had become larger, and the many other empty platforms had come into existence, some with smaller platforms that one would need to hop from one to another to get to the large platforms, while some larger platforms were linked to one another by pathways, yet all were flat and had no real feature atop them, though some were either of constructed stone, grass expanses, or had nothing atop them .. yet.**

**The platform the two stood atop however, was a work of a dedicated stone mason, the surface had a slightly uneven tiled pattern, tall pillars, seven in total, all pointed in a way that made them resemble Dream Nails, at a distance between the center and edge of their platform.**

**At the center of the platform, standing tall and true, a statue of smoothed stone, showing '?' unnamed savior, holding the Dream Nail before it, in a way similar to how Knight hold their blades in front of their face when either making a vow or commencing a battle.**

**The expanse was now much more calm and serene, yet dark and expansive, with a radiant sun illuminating the restored dream scape, yet there was an ever present darkness on the other side of the horizon, made up of dark storm clouds in the distant horizon, the platforms appearing to be suspended in a sky that continued for infinity, and that '?' felt could hold far more than what it did.**

**The last thing that she saw on the platform, between the fourth 'Nail' pillar and the edge …**

… **was a bench, just a simple metal bench with the metal frame supporting some smoothed pieces of firm wood.**

**The unnamed being walked over two the bench and sat down on one end of it, then looked at '?'.**

'**?' looked back, smirked a little, and walked over to the bench, sitting on the other end of it, finding that the seat and back were far more comfortable than they appeared to be.**

**Then '?' saw as light started to be emitted from her 'compa-no, her companion as it seemed that the seat was giving of a sort of restorative effect, and '?' witnessed as the light seemed to flow in small veins from the bench into her body, making her feel refreshed, warmed and restored.**

**Then she saw her companion rise from the bench, now with a bit of a healthy glow that offset its naturally dark visage.**

'**I do feel bad that I will have to use it to address it, since it is completely genderless, neither male, female or otherwise, so the first thing I should do is try to put a name to it,' '?' thought as she got up and followed her companion to the front of the statue, and shook her head in an exasperated manner, 'that may be a bit impossible, considering my companion has no voice either … hah, and I thought my life was bad."**

'**?' just trotted over to where her companion stood, though became aware of how little she was wearing, with the few strips of cloth that still covered her almost falling away, with the black flu-no, it was Void, the living darkness that emerged from nothingness, that is the true name of the dark material that covered parts of her body.**

'**?' was now beside her companion, standing with them before the statue, wondering what was happening now.**

**Then her companion began to glow with white light and beneath them, a large pattern, many time more intricate than the glyphs of the (true) Schnee's sprung into existence beneath them, the circle glowed with many unknown letters and curved patterns as the light began to grow stronger.**

'**?' knew what she needed to do, and from her body, she tapped into the new power that flowed through her body, the energy that now made up her existence and was a key energy that flowed through the reality of her companion …**

… **SOUL, the radiance within, the light that was the core of the existence of the denizens of the world she would now enter.**

'**?' SOUL flowed out of her body and into the mystic sigil that pulsed with light, light began to rapidly fill '?' vision, until it completely filled where they were, yet '?' still knew where her companion stood, and as the light became completely blinding, she spoke once more.**

"**Thank you companion …"**

"… **you have freed me from the nightmare…"**

"… **and allowed the light that is me, to be restored …"**

"… **now I will aid you in your journey, to the very end …"**

"… **though now, I must awaken and prepare myself …"**

"… **so that I may fight by your side, and learn the truths of the reality you hail from …"**

"… **the reality known …"**

"… **as HALLOWNEST."**

**The light became completely blinding, and soon '?' began to feel strong sensations throughout her body as she finally awoke.**

'**I wonder what I will encounter first?'**

* * *

"… Uhh, you guys okay, you've been pretty silent, in a bit of a worrying way, more so than last time" Mirai talked to the allotted group where staring intently at the screen before turning to Mirai, in a creepy 'all eyes on one person' type deal.

Nora spoke.

"Still … hurting, hurts all … over, talking hurts to, but … everything is … difficult to put in words."

Blake was next.

"Y-yeah, the … way that their power … works, that Void … a-and SOUL, I d-don't think anything o-on Remnant can really co-compare."

Yang came next.

"I 'erk' c-could take them i-in a straight fight, 'guh', b-but judging by your g-gaze I think th-there may be more to it than what we are seeing … right?"

"Indeed, Yang, the powers of that reality are, like many others, an source of infinite potential and possibility, like many other powers in all existence, and what you have seen so far is but I tiny drop in an almost cosmic-level ocean," Mirai emphasized this by spreading her arms out, and an image of a starry sky came up on a wall behind her, then it flickered off and Mirai returned to her seat, "but, for now, we will be seeing the reality of the world that 'the one who was once Jaune Arc' is awakening to …"

"… now."

* * *

**"…"**

**"…"**

"**.. erk!"**

**TING-TING**

"**Grk-urk."**

**TING-TING-TING**

"**Rrk-uuhh."**

**TING-TING-TING**

**CRRRRMMMBBBLLEE**

"**GAH"**

'**?' felt herself fall forward, onto a soft yet firm floor, and felt an incredibly soft and fluffy feeling as she lay on the soft ground.**

"_**Ah, you have awakened safely, this is truly an occasion worthy of jubilance."**_

'**?' turned her head to look at the speaker …**

'**A … moth, yep, it is a large human-sized, mostly purple, moth … that is talking in a language I know I never heard yet understand clearly … and it has a hammer and chisel in its 'arm-legs'?'**

**Then'?' noticed that there were flecks of a deep-black, rock-like material on her body, now mostly broken off, and craned her neck to see a rather sizeable chunk of rock that she knew she had been trapped i-!**

**CRRMMBBLLEE**

'**Ah, it fell apart.'**

**The large rock crumbled to pieces, now collapsed onto the ground in a heap.**

"_**My time tending to the graves have given me much experience in the shaping and molding of rock, though liberating thee from though prison was not a simple task, nor was the task of transporting it to my abode."**_

**The moth spoke once more, an even, sagely female tone that spoke of much experience and a large breadth of knowledge from within.**

"_**Such an interesting form, pale with no shell, much of the body appears quite soft, certain parts seem to be an excess of flesh that is compounded at certain points, though hopefully not to a severe amount, four appendages, two for locomotion and two for environmental manipulation, five extension for each both for support and manipulating."**_

**Also, she, at least I think it's a she, has no sense of, wait she isn't even same species so she probably wouldn't understand those things, maybe?**

"_**Only real form of natural insulation appears to be solely located on the top of what appears to be the cranial region holding the brain, difficult to hit but still quite a tempting target for those wishing you harm, though with a body like yours, damage to any point could prove quite fatal, especially given your current physical state."**_

'**?' looked down at herself and grimaced at what she saw.**

'**That's why I feel so sore all over.'**

**Her body was shown, her limbs slender, skin was soft and pale, small hands, legs that where thin yet held some muscle, and proportions similar to that of a well-developed child of fourteen or fifteen, some errant strips of cloth barely covered her (though she honestly didn't care at the moment) …**

… **and all over were deep scratches, cuts, sores, bruises, and some burn marks, all terrible injuries.**

**The only reason '?' didn't notice how badly hurt she was could be attributed to the fact that her body felt numb all over, and she felt herself sitting down on one of the softer cushions, the pain starting to come back as she felt herself start to tear up at the pain.**

**Then the moth sat itself before her and spoke to '?'.**

"_**Breath, allow yourself to calm, and focus on the center of your existence, reach in where you feel the its presence within."**_

'**?' nodded and slowly began to breath in and out, calming herself as she sat on the soft cushion, a calm expression on her face as she breathed in and out, while also trying to do what the moth had told her, looking for the 'presence', one she now knew.**

'**That light, the light within, the guiding energy that flows through my existence, my life …"**

"… **my SOUL."**

**As she tapped into the light that flowed through her, she felt the energy pulse through her body, and the pain began to recede from her body … but not fade.**

'**I knew it, the wounds are either to numerous or to deep, even with this light, it will take a long while before I can properly walk or even move … much less fight.'**

**A saddened look passed over '?' as she realized her current physical state, and felt tears flow from her eyes.**

'**How will I help my companion now.'**

"_**Ah, it has returned."**_

**A gust of wind and a flapping of fabric signaled the arrival of a new individual into the tent, '?' gazed up …**

… **looking into the 'eyes' of her savior and companion.**

"_**You have returned Knight, have you succeeded in finding what you sought."**_

**The now named Knight simply nodded, before it turned to '?', looking at her as she wiped away her tears.**

**It approached her, then ruffled its hands into its 'wing-cape', no they were wing's …**

… **and from the wings, it pulled out a large amount of what seemed like a near transparent fabric merged with a very smooth white membrane as '?' saw small vein like patterns within the material.**

**The Knight held it up to '?' … and she took it in her hand.**

**Everything happened rather quickly after that.**

'**?' was slightly startled when the material seemed to spring to life, coalescing around the hand and arm that she held it in, but the surprise passed she felt a sharp stinging, followed by a cooling numbness as the material continued to wrap itself around her body, covering her up entirely as it wrapped up her body, completely covering her from head to toe, finally ending before it could wrap up her head, allowing her to see the Knight bringing the large chunks of what she knew was solidified Void, and placed the pieces around her body.**

'**?' witnessed as small tendrils came out of the material now covering her whole body minus her face, for now, and picked up the pieces of Void one by one …**

… **she saw as the pieces all turned back into their liquid form, attach to the material covering her body, before it hardened again, becoming a sort of armor piece, and more came.**

**The Void attached itself to her whole body, forming over the SOUL fabric as '?' decided to call it, and the void worked its way up her whole body, covering her in a dark armor made of Void, and then it reached her head.**

**She felt a part of SOUL fabric at the back of her head open, and felt her hair hang loose, her hair the color of charcoal, though slightly pale as it didn't seem quite healthy, the SOUL fabric formed a band around the hair, tying it into a sort of low ponytail.**

**Then came her face, and she closed her eyes as the material covered her nose and mouth, taking breaths as she let the fabric cover her, and the felt as a solid substance formed over her face,**

**She then breathed.**

**Finding that she could still breath normally, as she then felt air coming from the SOUL fabric into her nose and mouth, and she opened her eyes, finding that she could still see, but could tell she that her vision was not natural.**

"_**As the flow of SOUL and Void reach a balance within, thou body, thou shalt gain the vision of what has become thee."**_

**As if on cue from the 'Moth's' words, '?' found her vision to change in a very drastic way, finding that she could perceive around herself in such a way that she felt that she was looking up, down, left, right, back and forward at almost the same time, though her vision remained singular and focused largely at a specific point.**

**Then her vision seemed to shit … to behind herself.**

'**?' was stunned as she now seemed to be looking at … her back, seeing the low ponytail of charcoal colored hair as it reached her mid-back, the hair coming through a special slit in the armor that was only big enough for the hair to fit through.**

**She also saw how some of the SOUL fabric spilled out from an triangular opening in the back of the armor, darkening into a 'wing-cape', similar to the Knight's own wings, though not as ragged (not yet at least).**

'**?'s vision shifted again, and she now looked at herself from the front, and saw that her face was now covered by a mask …**

… **one that was similar to the 'face' of the Knight, minus the horns, though similar pitch-black eyes, though that was probably from the layer of Void beneath the mask.**

**The armor now covered her whole body, and she felt strength flow through her body as the aches and pains faded into a dull pulse that echoed through her whole body.**

'**?' stood up, her armor making little sound as she stood up, standing at the same height as the Knight itself, and in her right hand, now in a Void armor gauntlet, in a soft flash of light, her Dream Nail appeared, having shifted out of the physical plane until she called upon it.**

'**Now … I am ready now.'**

**Though she spoke know words, she saw the slight nod of the Knight, acknowledging that '?' could now start braving the wilds of the land known as Hallownest.**

"_**Before thy leaves on thy journey, could thee spare some time to learn the history of this land, of the ones who call it home, and of the fate that befell the mighty kingdom that once held dominion in this land."**_

'**?' looked at the Knight, who only looked back, before it chose to sit on the ground, and '?' looked at the 'Moth' nodding in confirmation, but then realized that she should have asked for the 'Moths' identity, though she realized she could not do that now.**

"_**Ah, it was rude of me not to give my name earlier, it's Seer, that is who I am."**_

'**?' nodded thankfully at the 'Mo-Seer, and then sat down cross-legged as Seer then began to tell the story of the land, of the history of Hallownest.**

**(Though the Knight and '?' were not the only ones to hear the tale.)**

* * *

All was quiet as the viewing progressed, the assorted group taking in what they heard as the talking mot-Seer explained the entirety of the stories of the land known as Hallownest to the (former) Jaune Arc, the group completely silent at what they heard, having recovered enough to know properly listen to and also talk about what had occurred, and even the knowledge that Seer was giving to the (former) Jaune Arc, listening with rapt attention to the story of the land.

"Okay, so Jaune or whoever he/she is now, is in a land that is largely underground, in a land that is inhabited by giant bugs, from those that can talk and act like people to vicious giant monster bugs, and they can use magic … damn, now the Grimm sound kind of nice to have compared to that place," Yang noted, now just sitting quietly on her chair as the continued with the explanation, including some tidbits that really jumped out, "and that place also has … gods?"

"No, Seer stated that the 'Higher Beings' were god-like, wielding power that was like a gods but not actually a god, which I don't know whether it is just stories or if that is all actually true," Wiess said.

"It seems like it, considering that the kingdom was ruled by two of them, one called the Pale King and the White Lady, who were both higher ones, and were known throughout the whole kingdom, though I'm not sure what to really believe, considering that it is a completely different world and all that," Blake noted these facts as she looked at the viewing, listening intently to Seer's tale of the fallen kingdom of Hallownest.

"I-ow, hah, It's still sad though, that the kingdom was once so large and prosperous, but then it was destroyed by that … infection, that it turns peo-, well bu-, no, people into either violent and murderous monsters, makes the monsters even more violent, and even brings dead people to life so they can attack others, it's horrible," Ruby felt saddened upon hearing of the infection, a thought shared with the group, and the horrors that came to be because of it, "and what it does to them, filling their bodies with the weird orange stuff, turning them into empty husks that can only kill others who are not infected, and it can even infect people in their dreams … why would something like that even exist!"

"Well, it does, and it destroyed the kingdom and is also still spreading everywhere, taking more lives and causing more death, not even the Grimm could match such a horrifying thing, at least I hope not," Pyrrha truly hoped that such a thing didn't exist on Remnant, the Grimm were already bad enough as is.

"Looks like its coming from somewhere, and it looks like fearless leader and her new friend are the ones that can stop it, looks like she really traded up from hunting Grimm to literally saving a whole kingdom, well her and the Knight actually, go get em fearless leader!" Nora had managed to gain back her peppy spirit and cheered for the success of her leader and her leaders' friend.

Ren was mostly in his own thoughts but agreed with Nora in hoping for his leader and brother/sisters' victory.

* * *

"_**This is all I know in regard to thy quest, to gain entry to the source of this affliction, you must find Dreamers whose existence holds the seal to the source of this affliction in place, and I am afraid that you must end their existence to gain entry to the heart of the ailment and end the threat of this affliction."**_

**Seer then gazed at '?' before explaining once more.**

"_**You 'one who is unknown', you will face a great deal of trials and tribulations in your journey with the Knight, I wish to say that you must hurry in your quest to end this plague, but I implore thee to gain as much strength as thou can, seek out the secrets of this land, find out as much as thou can along with Knight, for even within the darkest depths of this land, there maybe means that can allow thee to complete thy quest while sacrificing as little as possible."**_

'**?' was a bit confused but quickly understood what Seer meant, being able to fight better and knowing more could help greatly along the way, and since the source was surely something both powerful and terrifying, having as much knowledge, skill, strength and mystic attunement would aid immensely in ending the infection in quick and decisive manner, also '?' believed that there was likely something regarding the source of the infection that was out in the world, something that the Knight and herself were better off knowing rather than going into the fight immediately without even knowing what they were getting themselves into or if other options existed that could allow for the infection to be ended better way.**

'**Okay, first is that the Knight and I will get a lay of the land, try to get as much knowledge about the infection as possible, hopefully help others along the way, find what we can to make future battle more quick, try to get a grasp on how any enemies we meet fight around here, see if we can find any secrets that could help us along the way, and stop the infection right at the source,' '?' nodded to herself as this seemed like a pretty solid plan.**

**Yet a question still lingered, and yet again Seer knew what she seemed to be thinking.**

"_**I apologize, but not even I know why you had been brought to this world, why you yourself were chosen, nor even the methods that were used to bring thee here, I only know that another would stand and fight by the Knight's side on his quest, and it was thee who fought side by side with the Knight against the many foes and tribulations that will came, this knowledge is all can offer, I deeply regret not being able to provide thee with further insight."**_

'**?' did not remotely blame Seer for her predicament, as she knew that Seer had helped her and provided her knowledge of what had occurred, even helping her attune to her SOUL.**

'**?' would go with the knight, and fight many a terrible foe along the way, but she would stick through it to the end, be it success, or just the end.**

**The Knight now stood, and began to walk to the entrance, looking at '?' as she followed the Knight, Seer telling them as they left.**

"_**If you feel like it, please return when you can, I have several items that thou may see value in, but I will need payment in exchange for my wares, one must make so form of living to survive a world such as this."**_

'**?' nodded back at Seer as she followed the Knight out of the tent … and found herself within the mouth of a cavern the tent had been placed within.**

'**Oh, oh my.'**

'**?' looked around, finding herself within a deep cavern that had a hole in its ceiling that seemed to lead somewhere else, and the edge of the cliff had several artistically made fence posts that were to keep those who didn't want to fall, from falling.**

**The Knight said nothing as it strode to the edge of the cliff, and '?' thought it would jump to the other just a short distance away …**

… **it didn't, it dropped, straight down, like a plummeting stone, straight down.**

'**?' could only blink as she looked down into the darkness, watching the Knight fall until she could not see him in the darkness, then …**

**THUD**

**She heard the impact, but kept looking, wondering if this was a normal thing for the Knight or a mistake.**

**The soft glow of the Knight's SOUL imbued Dream Nail waving in the darkness signaled that the Knight was okay.**

'**?' took a deep breath … and stepped off the edge.**

**VWHOOOOHHHHH**

**She fell for a relatively long while, and saw the bottom come up fast.**

**Then she felt a surge through her body as SOUL built up, and the moment she hit the ground, the SOUL in her body pulsed, dampening the impact, just leaving her lightly dazed from the fall, but otherwise completely fine.**

'**Kinda like Aura, though more versatile,' '?' thought once more, then became alert noticing the Knight had its Dream Nail out and ready for a fight, '?' bringing her own Dream Nail up, preparing for anything.**

**A loud incessant buzzing and several loud shrieks alerted her to the arrival of the beasts of Hallownest.**

**KRAAAWWWW**

'**?' looked up as five large flying insects with long sharp mandibles, a relatively thin body, and two small black eyes glared at us as the flying predatory insects darted at us ready to tear a chunk out of us.**

'**Move'**

**The instinctive command caused '?' to dart out of the way of the attack …**

'**Strike'**

… **then swing her Dream Nail into the attacker, the nail releasing a pulse of energy on impact, leaving the creatures exoskeleton cracked and leaking …**

… **a bright orange fluid.**

'**Their infected'**

**Then '?' moved just as the fourth tried to end her life along with the third.**

**KROOMM**

'**?' witnessed the Knight end the life of one of the insects, and saw the body explode into a mix of the insect's exoskeleton and infection fluids.**

**The creatures moved rapidly and fiercely, but where also predictable and always flew in a straight line at their target, they were like Beowolfs in a way, except they were insects and could fly.**

'**Focus on the fight'**

**This hit '?' just to barely leap over the fourth insect as it passed beneath, thrusting the lance into the injured first, ending it in a burst.**

**SKRM**

'**?' turned as she witnessed the third hit the Knight as it finished off the second insectoid beast, leaving the Knight with a slight gash in its exoskeleton, which leaked out pure Void, but sealed quickly as the Knight focused its SOUL into repairing the damage and then dispatched the third immediately after.**

**Then '?' realized she had been distracted.**

**SKRM**

'**Guh'**

**A stabbing pain from her shoulder told her she had been hit by the final insectoid beast, and saw it prepare to strike her again.**

**She only leapt above it as it passed beneath and stabbed into it with her Dream Nail, the creature left barely alive (though it was no longer truly alive according to Seer's warning about those infected) and scraping along the ground, and straight at the Knight.**

**BKROOM**

**A single stab from the Knight ended the final insect beast, leaving them alone at the bottom of the pathway.**

'**?' noticed that there were some rounded pieces of metal that looked almost like coins.**

**She turned and saw the Knight picking up the metal pieces and decided to grab up the pieces as well, a small input of knowledge from the Knight through whatever method of communion they had telling her that the metal pieces were a form of currency in Hallownest, one that was still used even now.**

'**?' finished collecting the metal pieces and saw as the Knight was getting ready to head off again.**

'**So, this is the start of my journey, and this was but a taste of things to come,' '?' thought to herself as she gazed into the tunnel that went deeper into the unknown, that would take her along with the Knight deeper into the land of Hallownest.**

**She looked back up, to where Seer's home was, and smiled slightly.**

'**We will save this land Seer, both of us,' following her thought, she followed behind the Knight as they continued deeper into the cavern …**

… **toward greater peril, deep secrets, and discoveries greater than they would ever know.**

* * *

The viewing blinked off; the reality had been viewed to the current viewings end.

"Like the last, this is only the first part to other viewings from this reality, which will be quite a viewing if I may say so, and I hope this has taught you that these viewings are not just some little form entertainment or something to punish you for crimes not your own, they are linked and woven from their realities to your own, each own seeping into your reality, your world as we speak, and the effects that bleed over can be quite harmful and deadly if not viewed this way, you were like that this was a more benign form of bleed over," the statement shocked the assorted group as they heard what she said, saying that what had happened to them was a supposedly benign thing, which left them fearful of what the worst thing was, "I truly want to help you in returning to your own reality as well as finding out why this happened, but you must also understand that the realities we perceive now are not going to be nice or pleasing, and its essences of these terrible realities that are currently linked to your own reality now, but right now while the viewing is being sorted I would like you all to visit the medical ward which is currently over there."

Mirai pointed to an opening that appeared, with a shimmering glow, revealing a medical room with beds, large tubes of softly glowing fluid, and also several small cute looking egg-like drones with little nurse hats on top and three metal extensions that hovered around their frame.

At the back of the room, they saw another person, a young woman in a sort of customized medical outfit, made to allow for ease of movement with short sleeves and a knee length skirt with several pockets woven in, while functional due to a sort of body glove worn beneath that radiated a sort of protective energy as a hologram from a wrist device, the girls hair being an auburn color with light green eyes.

"Emma, hellooooo," Mirai called out as Emma was jolted by being called, looking to see that she had company.

"Oh, Mirai, so these are the ones you called ahead about," Emma said as she looked at the assorted individuals that were now standing in front of the entrance to the medical ward.

"This is them, just need to ask if you can check up on them, first time suffering from a bleed over, don't want to take any chances," Mirai stated.

Emma nodded at this, "all right then, just pick a bed and we can begin looking you over," the young medic said as the egg-like nurse bots used manipulator limbs to guide each of the members of RWBY and NPR to a bed as they found themselves quite tired and worn out from the viewing and 'bleed over' to make any comments.

"I need to greet some newcomers we have coming in, so just focus on recovering for now, take care you guys," some tired waves and a slightly tired 'see ya' from Nora followed as the opening closed, and Mirai then turned to the now opening wall as the newcomers came into view.

A rueful smirk spread on her lips.

"Hah, I knew you would get here eventually, but not even I thought it would be this quickly, but I digress," Mirai straightened up as she gazed at the two newcomers.

One was a woman with her blonde hair held in a tight bun, wearing an outfit that basically screamed disciplinarian and also said a few more things that were quite uncouth to either say or think, piercing green eyes looking at Mirai through a set of spectacles on her face, though not with any real sort of harsh critique, just expectant of their presence her.

The other was a man who seemed to be of advanced age given his grey hair, but maintained an almost unnaturally youthful visage, wearing an unbuttoned black suit over a green vest and light green undershirt, a scarf with a small cross-like pendant, black trousers and carried a cane that seemed to have been through a lot.

Mirai knew who these individuals were and why they were now here, especially the seemingly warm looking Professor-like man, who she knew was far more than what he seemed.

Before words could be raised from either, Mirai spoke first.

"Welcome to Quanta Aeterna Professor Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch, before we can start with any questions you have for me that were not answered along the way, I would like to give my own question to you, one that is key to the reason of your arrival here in this place you have found yourselves, would it be okay if I ask you this question," Mirai finished as she waited for their response.

It was of course Ozpin who answered.

"You yourself stated that this question is part of the reason why we are now here, so I do believe knowing it would at least help in giving us a clearer picture as to our current presence here, so please, ask away," The Professor stated, Glynda just folded her arms under rathe eye catching assets and waited for the question.

"Thank you for that Professor, so here is the question," Mirai cleared her throat and then looked at them both as she asked the question, one she had given before but would need to give to all who would come later one.

"Do you know the name … Jaune Arc."

* * *

**WHOOHH, that was intense, sorry for taking so long, a mix of this coronavirus and setting the chapter up left me with quite a mental load to get through, but her is the new chapter, hope you enjoy.**

**As for the source materials for my chapters, I find it more engaging when the readers try to look for information regarding what I write, with the hope that it gets their creative juices flowing as well, though given how many hints I put in this chapter, it should be pretty quick to find out what the source of this chapter was.**

**Well, see ya in the next one.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4 – AETHER I, Blade and Fae/End of Era

"Hmm, okay then, yep were good now, the energy has dispersed from your bodies, so you should all be okay now," Emma finished looking over the scans of her assorted patients, the members of RWBY and NPR laying on special beds that had rings of light hovering around them as they lay, feeling as the pain that flowed through their bodies faded away, "now you just need to get your clothes back on and then you can go out, also we have no hospital fees here, mostly because we wholly believe in the Hippocratic Oath here, and partly because we have no real need for more material wealth considering how much even the most basic citizen in this megastructure has and the scientific advances that allowed for most material needs to be fulfilled, go Progress."

The assorted group was both stunned and shocked at the girls claim, but it wore of quickly as they remembered they were in a completely different reality with uncountable differences from their own, plus with what they saw and what happened to them it was far from the most shocking thing they knew.

"I uh, I just want to ask about one thing," Ruby asked Emma as the doctor went over the data from her analysis of the two groups, "that 'bleed-over' thing that happened, what do you know about it?"

"Well, for one, 'Bleed-over' is a very watered down wording of what the event really is, with its really name being Dimension Link Interference or DLI, which usually happens when two or more dimensions with a similar pattern of energy and existence become close enough to one another that energy from one reality ends up passing into another reality with a similar energy pattern, or similar enough that the energy could still pass through. The effect of a DLI can range either minutely or drastically, from the smallest of effects, such as an individual in on reality seeing sporadic flashes of memory, emotion, desire and other such things that originate from an individual of similar existence in another reality, all the way to major effects, such as actual individuals, locations, creatures, powers or 'what have you' that exist in one reality suddenly appearing within the new reality. The most basic example of such an event would be if you were to suddenly see a tear in reality appear in front of you, and through that reality, you see a different version of yourself through the tear, and for simplicities sake, what you see is a version of yourself that _didn't become a huntsman/huntress_, and then the tear vanishes, leaving you with the experience of what you witnessed," Emma finished explaining to the group about what the 'Bleed over' or DLI, was as the group was getting dressed behind obscured light barriers as they listened, "that would be the most basic explanation I can give to you, though there are other, far more stranger and unbelievable events that transpired during a 'bleed-over' , but that's is just the nature of dimensional realities, its simply that unpredictable."

"So what you're saying is that we end up feeling or experiencing what another version of ourselves is going through, or that something from their reality could appear in our world, even a different version of ourselves," Wiess said as she got her clothes back on, finding that they smelled very nice, and being thankful for that.

"That would be the most basic definition of DLI, though there is a lot more to it than that, but basically yes, that is it," Emma then saw a hologram appear, just as the assorted group finished getting dressed, feeling strangely refreshed, even though they were left sweating heavily and in great pain before, now they felt pretty good and smelled nice as well, "that was Mirai, she just finished discussing with the newcomers what has transpired, now she asks that you all return as the next viewing will be starting in a bit, but believes you may have questions you still seek to ask, and decided to answer them before the viewing begins, also the Medical Life Core that you all lay on thinking they were ordinary beds has a 'sterilization' function that cleanses the body of all grime, filth, infection or illness that is detected by the system, so right you guys are as fresh and clean as can possibly be, the level of cleanliness that a Medical Life Core or MLC can achieve is only comparable to an intense decontamination procedure or a high quality, S-class luxury spa treatment for the impossibly wealthy, so your welcome and Ciao."

An opening appeared in the wall, now appearing to be a portal of some type, and the group said their farewells to Emma as they left, though her last words caused a brief shudder to pass through their bodies.

"Don't worry, we will probably see each other anyway, so take care until then."

The members of RWBY and NPR appeared in the viewing room of the facility once more and looked to see a small discussion taking place between Mirai and -!

"Professor Ozpin, Headmistress Goodwitch, your both here," Wiess's outburst drew the attention of the two.

"Ah, there back, and as I promised you Professor, they are in good health, though now I must ask of your answer, even though there is really only one real answer now, apologies for seeming rude in that area," Mirai stated to the Professor as he sipped on a mug that held his favorite beverage.

"Ah, none taken miss Mirai, I understand the situation and I understand that there is no real option than to continue in this case if we are to return to our present reality then viewing these realities is essential to this end, so yes, miss Goodwitch and I will view these realities so we may return to our own, though hopefully they will not be as dark as the previous realities," Ozpin then sipped his caffeinated beverage and let out a sigh of silent happiness.

"No promises in what realities we will view I'm afraid, I only know when they come in and the knowledge of what they have, not what will be shown, the content of what is shown or how well you will take it, so when a reality you may not like is shown that happens to be quite dark for your tastes, I am afraid I can only offer you my apologies, some more comfortable accommodations and nothing more," Mirai stated, Ozpin contemplated this fact and nodded in understanding, he himself also having experiences with things that one cannot control and understood Mirai's situation, "though you should count yourself as quite fortunate, very few non-organic items have been able to survive dimensional transmission, especially in such good condition, your cane must be something truly special."

Ozpin eyed the cane at his side, and a warm smile graced his lips as he looked at it, "it is, it truly is special item to me, and in regards to the viewings, the situation is not … ideal, but so few situations ever really are, but we will get through it, you can be assured of that, right Gly-oh, ahem, I mean headmistress."

"Haah, honestly Oz, the situations I end up getting into when I'm with you, but in the end, yes, I will watch these 'viewings' as well, be they good, bad, or brothers forbid, worse than what is shown, I will watch along with everyone here," Glynda stated from her spot, rather calm as she sipped from a cup that wafted a warm and gentle fragrance that Wiess and Blake seemed to know, remembering the tea they drank, "ah, so soothing, so calming … where have you been when I needed you," Glynda asked her mug of tea as the soothing effects sunk into her body.

"Well, that was something," Mirai then turned to the assorted members of RWBY and NPR as they watched the calm and relaxed side of their headmistress they didn't even know existed, "so, I know that there is a question that you have been wanting to ask, and there is quite a bit of time before the next viewing, so ask away."

The assorted group looked at one another, and wondered which question they should ask, whispers abounded, hushed arguments came and went, until it was decided what the question would be.

It was Ruby who would deliver the question to Mirai.

"Uh, well uhm, the thing we wanna know, uhm … wh-why does Jaune become a girl in so many realities," Ruby popped one of the more bigger questions that the group had, and even Ozpin and Glynda, who had been given the truncated experience of the viewings were left wondering why the main focus ended up becoming a female in these viewings.

"Haaaahhhhh, I knew that would be it, I am honestly not surprised that that is your question," Mirai then put a hologram up, a set of symbols that seemed to change was shown, and the group saw it was a countdown, "we have plenty of time, good."

Then Mirai waved her arm as several screen appeared, showing images of Jaune Arc along with many diagrams, charts and a strange rippling color pattern on a screen that was like ripples on a liquid surface.

"So, the reason why Jaune Arc becomes female in the realities being shown, the reasons for this are varied, but they mostly center around two main points, one that is more localized while the other is more far reaching and is far, far more complex than what it may seem that I can assure you of," Mirai told them as they sat before her, listening to what she has to say.

"Well, the first reason is a more common reason that tends to happen, and it is that either the energy of the reality that Jaune Arc is transferred into ends up altering his existence so drastically that he ends up turning into a she from exposure to this energy whilst being empowered by it in some way, and according to most of the observations done, this event has a probability of occurring within a forty-five percent interval in most cases, with forty percent being that Jaune Arc remain a man and being empowered, which is the case most individuals know, while the remaining fifteen percent ends with him becoming altered and twisted by the energy into … well, something not human … or humanoid. Another part of the common reason also ends up being from certain entities that exist within the veil of most realities, and some of them, for reasons entirely their own, ranging from a necessary part of Jaune Arc's 'journey' into that reality all the way to literal boredom and a need to 'spice things up' in their warped minds, some beings of power tend to really do what they want with it, some even like to intentionally mess with mortal beings 'for kicks', enough said," the haggard tone in Mirai's voice and her exhausted look made it clear that this had happened before and left her worn out, RWBY and NPR both wondering how bad it truly was, Glynda had an idea of how having others in power do what they want while making more problems for others.

Ozpin … he knew, he sat with a complacent smile hinting to a deep sadness as he understood at a deep level, exactly what Mirai meant, having deep sympathy for her and the multitudes of Jaune Arc's that were subjected to the whims of beings of immense power with no say in the circumstances he would find himself in.

"Now, we have the second reason … and it is one of the more complex and dimensionally ingrained reasons as to why the result of Jaune becoming a female is the more likely result, and it deals with realities that contain the essence or fragment of, or themselves are, Primordial, Prime or Origin realities," Mirai continued as the group raised their hands, explaining the concept of Primordial realities.

"A Primordial, Prime and/or Origin reality is basically a reality that would best be described as either a reality that came into being at the initial point of the beginning of existence itself, with its essence branching through existence and leading to the conception of other such realities into the flow of reality itself, forming new dimensions and other universes, or are realities that are still being formed from existence itself even now, or even from Primordial entities that contain the power of existence themselves, and I am sorry to crush any dreams you may be having, but your reality, Remnant, is a branch reality that was conceived from the essence of a Primordial reality, thus not being conceived from existence or from a being of existence, but was itself conceived from a Prime reality into a sort of lesser reality, and that leads to … something that will shock you, and make you question your very existence in reality, a lot," Mirai looked at them as she gave a serious and intense stare as she gave them this knowledge, and the nervousness that they felt as she stated this, a feeling of deep dread welling up inside them as Mirai seemed like she was going to do something drastic, "would you like to know what that is, would you like to see … **the TRUTH**."

The group looked at one another, and nervously, the agreed.

"To those of you who believe that your world, reality and selves held some deep universal significance …"

Mirai raised her hand and was ready to snap her fingers.

"… forgive me."

**SNAP**

(-RWBY Volume 1 OST-"This Will Be the Day")

The group were startled as they witnessed a hologram displaying team RWBY, all of JNPR, Ozpin, Glynda in a way that seemed like some form of introducing them in some way, and saw as it kept shifting through fighting Grimm, Ruby in front of her mother's gravestone with an apparition of her mother appearing, Wiess under a spotlight, Blake on a branch in forever fall before disappearing as another branch passes (Blake got nervous as some intricate patterns appeared on the broken moon, patterns Blake seemed to recognize), Yang on her bike Bumblebee near Juniors club, an image of Roman Torchwick with the White Fang, the shadowed silhouettes of three people, with one appearing to have a glowing eye and holding a fireball revealing the person was a woman (Ozpin and Glynda paid considerable attention to this part, especially the woman), and then it ended with Ruby twirling her weapon as she became a shadowy silhouette and the words RWBY flashed on the screen in large, stylized letters, and the song ended.

The group was shocked, stunned and were left with a breadth of questions as scenes in their lives appeared, with the scenes starting by showing that the episodes had 'starring' or 'written by' at the beginning of each part of what was being shown, and a title appearing at the beginning.

To the people in the room, they were familiar with where they saw such a thing, but at the same time they felt a strong sense of existential dread as it kept playing out in what they saw, with the scenes ending in a scrolling ending that they only saw in … in!

"This," Mirai got out of her chair, a table appearing near them where they could all see, and Mirai set what looked like a thin case on the table, "is the truth of your reality."

Mirai stepped back as they group nervously approached the table, and Ruby picked up the case, eyes widening along with the others as she gazed at the cover of the box, and on the box …

… 'RWBY Volume 1', showing Ruby, Wiess, Yang and Blake on the cover in a fighting position with their weapons with the background being night with the moon in the back.

"In your reality, in your world you are real," the group looked at Mirai, feeling of shock in their eyes as she looked at them with a serious and leveled gaze, "but in the Primordial realities, in the main worlds that exist, you, your world, your story, your reality itself, all of it … they don't exist, not in the way of you being physically real."

The group had the urge to voice words of denial, to say it was lies, but what they saw, what had happened, what they experienced, it made them unable to speak but some had tears at the edge of their eyes and others gripped tightly whatever they had in their hands.

"Haah, I will tell you now, I despise what I am doing, I don't want to do this at all, I want to bury this and talk about something else, and if you are willing, we can drop the issue of why Jaune Arc becomes female and you can feel free to think all of this was a sick game or some twisted vile joke I am doing, I will neither hold it against you nor will I say anything against it, we can talk about something else and end this discussion right now, honestly I don't want to do this and I know you don't want to keep going either," Mirai now looked incredibly haggard and had a look that was deeply apologetic and incredibly exhausted, looking at the group that still felt the sense of shock in them, but at the same time they had come to far and seen to much, they knew there was no going back, no matter how much they wanted to go back, "so, shall we end this discussion and talk about something different, or …."

Mirai chose not to finish, for Ruby gave the answer of the group …

"Wh-wha-what … 'gulp', what is … the truth, what … are we really?"

Mirai looked saddened at that, shook her head, looked back up, and held her hand as more holographic panels appeared.

On one panel, was Ruby … as a portrait that seemed to shift as it appeared on the screen of a computer, the portrait being rendered into three-dimensions on the screen, multiple instructions appearing on the screen that appeared to cause the image of Ruby to move, shift and orient itself, then it showed the three dimensional image of Ruby speaking … only to also show another image of a young woman that was speaking in her voice talking into a microphone, the mouth of the Ruby on the computer spoke at the same time the woman spoke words into the microphone. Then it showed an image of a computer movement model that seemed to move similar to Ruby herself, and then the movement model was overlaid with Ruby holding Crescent Rose as she moved with the model, swinging and moving her weapon at the same rate that the model moved.

Ruby had a horrified and disturbed look on their face, and she was not alone.

The others present now held their mouths, shook their heads, and had eyes that were horrified and wished to look away but kept looking. They saw themselves being generated on computer screens, had people with their voices talk into microphones, voices and words that came out of their own mouths, and then saw as Beacon, Forever Fall, and Vale itself were soon created on computer screens, drawn using an art program and them rendered in three dimensions from their drawn phase and then came themselves on the screen with most others shown either being vague outlines or solid shadow while they themselves and a few others were fully rendered in, the looks of stark horror as they saw a scene generated, a scene showing their life, journey and more … being created on the screen of a computer!

"This is the truth of your existence in the Prime realities, you are all … characters … characters for an animated cartoon series titled RWBY, produced by the animation company Rooster Teeth in the Prime reality, your reality and others like it branched off from the Prime reality, gaining a life of its own from the essence of reality, but by the very facet of existence itself, your reality … does not exist," Mirai's have, none joking tone made the realize the truth of what they saw.

"Though whether you believe you are real or not is entirely up for debate, since to an overwhelming number, you are all quite real … and immensely loved," Mirai's sudden words caused them to gaze at the screens as they shifted, showing something … they could never expect.

A screen played the inside of a large building, and in the building were booths that showed many toys, accessories, books, shirts and more showing different characters from countless works, yet there was one part of the display that seemed to be larger than the rest, and a large amount of people were around the area, a display showing …

"… us."

Wiess could only see as a small figurine, one of a large number, were being bought and sold by large numbers, along with other figurines of her being bought by a sizeable amount of people, along with figurines of her friends and other Ruby characters. Then the image changed to people who whore merchandise that had them in dramatic poses with their weapons, and some showed them differently, older, more confident, though with Yang expressing concern as she saw a rather awesome looking image of her on a shirt but her right arm was robotic, 'I'll tell you once this has passed' was Mirai's answer as they saw how they were treated by those of the Prime reality. Ruby then saw a young girl reaching up for something that was up high and tearing up at not being able to reach it, then a woman who was the little girl's mother asked her which toy she wanted, Ruby's eyes went wide when the little girl said 'wuby' and saw the woman pick up a plushie of herself holding Crescent Rose (plushie version) and the girl squealed in joy as she hugged the toy close to her, then she felt something warm blossom inside of her as she saw the girl sleep in her bed holding the plushie … while surrounded by other plushies of her team and team JNPR with the blanket having an image of her and her team on it.

The group had mixed feelings as they saw this, ranging from confusion, to a strange yet welcome warmth that seemed to blossom from deep inside themselves.

"It's them you know, it's those individuals, all of them, those who watch you and your actions and experiences, their feelings towards you and your world are what give your world its existence, from this Prime reality and from other such realities where your world was conceived, and their strong emotions to not just your 'truth' but other 'truth's' as well resonate into the fabric of reality, causing reality to shape new realities based on these 'truths', and this gave birth to not just your reality, but near infinite numbers that are born from others who create new stories centered around your reality, either to create better path for you world, to merge your reality with another to create something entirely new and never before seen, and some just do it for their own reasons, be they good or ill, though don't worry, the number of truly dark realities formed from darker interpretations of your 'truth' are relatively miniscule and not very prevalent. Your reality is one of these conceived realities, though how it is and what occurred, I know not, that is why you are here," then Mirai cleared her throat, a small glass of water appeared from an opening in the floor on a floating tray, which she took and drank down quickly before putting it back on the tray, which went back into the floor as she continued speaking. "Puhaaah, okay, now we get to the point of the discussion that involves your question, the complex answer of why Jaune Arc has a higher chance of becoming female when certain dimensional events transpire, the meaning behind how it happens is complex but the circumstances of why are not, and that involves the 'source' of Jaune Arc, the Prime point that is linked to his existence."

"P-prime point-!"

"Let me stop you there Ozpin, I will explain something I missed," Mirai then showed a screen and each of those assembled was on the screen, and Jaune himself was on a slightly large screen, as was Pyrrha herself.

"I should have mentioned that you all were created from a 'source' for the show that forms your reality, the show RWBY, which I must point out is still ongoing and has not reached completion, not yet anyway, more on that later. You all have a 'source' if you will, a reference from which your character was based off of, with the originals being characters from other works, each work known in its own way, and for sake of simplicity I would like team RWBY to stand with Ozpin and Glynda on one side, and for NPR to stand on this side," Mira gestured to one spot for RWBY, Ozpin and Glynda, while NPR walked to the other spot, and the holograms showing them moved to the side they stood as Mirai continued again.

"The reason I had you all move to different spots is to, in a way, place you in a group that share's similar origins to your 'sources', essentially showing that those in your group had their 'source' come from basically the same origin, and as to what that is."

Mirai waved her hand to the RWBY/Ozpin/Glynda sign and above the hologram images showing them, a string of word appeared like a title, and the words spelled 'Nursery Rhymes' above the hologram panels, then above the hologram images of NPR came the word 'Mythology/History'.

"It is as you see, Ruby Rose, Wiess Schnee, Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, Ozpin, Glynda, the source of your existence, the characters used to bring you into existence, were all sourced from Nursery Rhyme stories."

The hologram panel showing Ruby then had a new image on it, showing a young girl wearing a red hood while holding a basket in a forest.

"Ruby Rose, the character that inspired your creation is the main character of the Nursery Rhyme story titled 'Little Red Riding Hood'.

The image shifted to Weiss, and then showed an image of a young woman with short black hair, a fairly beautiful face and gentle physique, in a forest appearing to be singing as seven small men seemed to watch from a distance, while a dark, hunched over figure observed from a cliff in the distance.

"Wiess Schnee, the character that inspired your creation is the main character from the Nursery Rhyme 'Snow White'.

Then it shifted to Yang's image and split to show a young girl eating a bowl of what looked like porridge in a house that seemed to be for some exceptionally large individuals.

"Yang Xiao Long, you were inspired by the main character of the Nursery Rhyme 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'.

Then it showed Blake, and she was bothered by the image of a young woman standing next to a large bipedal beast of some kind, though it wore clothes and seemed to be trying to treat her well, as the girl seemed happy and the beast was also happy.

"Blake Belladonna, you were inspired in part by both of the main characters of the Nursery Rhyme 'Beauty and the Beast'.

Then she turned to Ozpin and Glynda, both of whom were a bit nervous about what she was going to say, and then saw their holo-panels merge together, and beneath was the image of a relatively old man surrounded by machinery and a woman in a flowing white dress holding what seemed to be a 'magic wand'.

"Ozpin and Glynda, the both of you share a source, that source being the Nursery Rhyme known as 'The Wizard of Oz', with Ozpin based on the titular Wizard and Glynda being based on the character called 'The good witch of the North' who ironically is called 'Glinda', imagine that."

With that, and the assorted group left to wonder about their connection to story book characters, Mirai then turned to team NPR, who were nervous about what she would show.

The image of Lie Ren was the first brought up, laid over with the image of a young woman in attire that seemed to fit Mistralian style, yet also different, then it showed the woman again, only this time wearing armor that was meant for men, and appeared to be trying to look like a man.

"Lie Ren, the inspiration for your existence is a character from the mythology of a land on the Prime world of your shows origin, a land known as China, and the character herself is known as Mulan, a woman who disguised herself as a man to enter the army during an invasion from a hostile army in order to protect her father, who was too old to do any strenuous activity, much less fight in a war, and did so even with the threat of death should her true identity be discovered, the Chinese at the time were incredibly strict about what could and could not be allowed, though would later be forgiven for her actions by saving her country from the invading army and helping to save the leader of her country as well, that is who inspired your creation, Lie Ren, you should be honored."

The image of Nora Valkyrie was brought up, and from it came two images, one of a woman on a winged horse holding a lance and another of a man in armor with a heavy fur cape holding a hammer that seemed to emit lightning.

"Nora Valkyrie, you hold two powerful sources of inspiration, both from what is called Norse Mythology, the first being the Valkyries who were 'warrior spirits' said to have been charged with protecting powerful warriors on the battlefield and even taking particularly strong souls of deceased warriors to the heaven of all great warriors, Valhalla. Then there is your other source, one who holds an immense amount of importance in the Norse Myths, and that 'source' is the highest deity, the strongest God, of Norse Mythology, Thor, God of Lightning and the protector of mankind."

Then the large image of Pyrrha Nikos came down, and on the screen appeared a man wearing a rather ancient form of the armor that Pyrrha herself wore, and had a helmet while using a spear and shield, with sword at the hip, yet there was a power from the individual that everyone could feel.

"Pyrrha Nikos, the inspiration for your creation was a hero, a hero of Greek Mythology, the legendary warrior, and demi-god Achilles, a powerful warrior trained by a legendary sage and became a powerful warrior in service to his nation, winning many battles against countless foes and armies, until he died a warriors death in battle, his name living on even now, in history and myth."

With that, a final holo-panel appeared, and on the panel was shown Jaune himself.

"Haah, the show that forms your reality truly made an error by making his role so lacking in comparison to your own, especially given who the source of his existence was and how important she was in history," Mirai turned to the others as she prepared to unveil the 'source' of Jaune Arc's existence.

"The second reason of why Jaune ends up becoming female in such a number of realities besides the first, well the reason is linked to one important aspect that you all seem to take for granted, and that is … potential. When Jaune Arc makes a shift into a female form, the potential that he held as a male rises immensely as a female, and as to why this is the case, it is linked to the 'source' of his existence, an individual of great renown in the Prime reality."

An image appeared next to Jaune, and it was a woman that was wearing old world knights armor, holding a banner and on a horse, yet a deep part of them felt something from the woman, a feeling of warm light that the woman seemed to exude.

"Meet the 'source' of Jaune Arc, the one who inspired his existence, and unlike the 'source's' of your existence, was not a being of fiction or myth, but an actual, real individual in the history of the Prime reality, a hero who not only fought in a war, but ended it as well. A saint of one of the largest religions of the Prime reality and even as she was sentenced to death under accusation of being a practitioner of darkness and evil, held her faith in her god to the end and beyond …"

"… the Saint of the nation of France, heroine of the Hundred-year war, and the source of the man you know of as Jaune Arc, her name is Jeanne D' Arc or Joan of Arc."

The group was left astounded at this knowledge, at knowing that the boy they knew had originated from a person of such immense importance, a person who truly did exist in the reality that their reality originated from, and as they compared the Jaune Arc the knew to the source of his existence, they saw the reality of why Jaune Arc seemed to gain a female form so often.

"Yep, you are all realizing it, and it is as you think, the reason why Jaune Arc has such a high probability of attaining a female form is that when it occurs, 'she' ends up channeling a large amount of the potential of his now her source, the source being a both a legendary saint and hero, and you can easily imagine how much potential could be had from such a change, which is where I must apologize to those with the Nursery Rhyme sources as your potentials are still high, but are quickly becoming maxed out and you soon will hit a potential limit without developing outside of your latent potential, this is due to the fact that your 'sources' do not actually exist in reality and are mostly popular among children and infants, sorry. As for you mythology derived guys, your potentials are a bit higher, and can develop much more than the Nursey Rhyme group, and a does still exist, and your potentials will grow similar to Jaune Arc's should you also undergo a, ahem, 'sudden shift in gender', but you will reach a limit eventually as you're sources, while existing as a part of a more broader subject and known to a larger amount of people, are not as potent since they do not truly exist in the Prime reality."

With that she rounded her explanation off with the conclusion.

"There you have it, you expected simple answers and got life altering and questioning revelations to yourselves and your world, and the reasons as to why Jaune Arc seems to take on a female form more often than a male form, and with that I would like to answer a question from earlier, one that was asked by Miss Xiao Long, and that was why her arm had become a robotic one," Mirai asked as Yang gulped, slightly worried about the answer she would receive.

"It was cut off, by an individual from Blake Belladona's past, when she was still a member of the White Fang …"

Eyes turned to Blake, whose own eyes seemed to grow wide with horror and dread as she seemed to know who Mirai was speaking.

"… and the individual was one of the main reasons for Blake's desertion of the White Fang, and an individual with the most wasted potential I have ever seen …"

Mirai snapped her fingers and on the screen, shown to all, was the visage of an individual that many of the group knew from wanted posters and news reports, the teachers knew of him from the many public security services that operated in Vale and elsewhere, while Blake backed away in horror at seeing the visage of the person she hoped to never meet again.

"… leader of the Vale chapter of the White Fang and its most violent and unrepentant extremist, and also Blake's … former partner … Adam Taurus."

A scene played, showing Blake stabbed to the ground by Adam, and then showed Yang seeing what happened to Blake, fly into a rage as she charged at Adam, only to pull his blade out and then focus his semblance, Blake watching in horror at what Adam was going to do, with Yang gritting her teeth at seeing Blake being hurt, her eyes slightly becoming red …

SLAAAASSSHHH

… then widened and became purple as Adam sliced of Yang's right arm, leaving her to flop to the ground, and Blake crawling over to Yang, holding her as Adam walked up to them, and saying, for everyone to hear …

"**I will destroy everything you care for, starting with her."**

… Adam stabbed and everyone gasped, only for it to be revealed that he had stabbed a shadow clone image Blake made, and turned to see Blake leading Yang away from the building they were in, while Adam looked on and then sliced apart a Beowolf that got to close, before he then walked way.

The image then switched, Mirai addressing the group.

"That is all I can show for now, and you can watch not only what led up that event, but all that transpires after at a later time, specifically when you turn in after this 'viewing', which will be the last we shall see and then turn in, as it should be coming … up … now."

The distant and disheartened gaze now worried and unnerved the assorted group even more now as she seemed to have a dark look on her face.

"Oh dear … that is… oh no … this is …. Oh no," Mirai had a worried gaze as she shook her head and held a hand over her mouth as she seemed to be contemplating some very ill news, then she sucked in a breath of air and turned to the group.

"Ozpin, everyone, I'm sorry, the reality that will be shone will be very dark, not only for the Jaune Arc of that reality but for that realities Remnant itself, also to answer, this reality has a slight essence of Prime reality within it, and it did affect Jaune Arc, so yeah, he's female in this reality, though more to a … humanoid extent, and as to what happens," Mirai sat on her chair as she levelled a strong gaze to the group, tired and sorrowful eyes looking at them, making worry swell in the hearts. "There are certain forces in Remnant, dark forces that work in parallel with the Grimm, forces that work to undermine not just the kingdoms, but humanity itself, a dark force that consists of traitors to humanity, and in the viewing that will be shown, the reality that is shown can be summed up into two words, words Ozpin and Glynda, that you would know the meaning of …"

Ozpin, who had been holding his cane tightly already, suddenly found himself gripping the shaft in a literal death grip as he feared the word Mirai would speak, Glynda next to him as she also grasped the hem of her skirt, worried about what Mirai was going to say.

They were right to be worried.

"… SHE … WON."

The look of anger and frustration on Ozpin and Glynda's faces brought a level of fear to the students, now worried about who this 'she' was and why it would get such a reaction from the heads of Beacon.

"There are several things in this reality, things that will make this version of Remnant diverge from the one you know, but a large part of the Remnant you see is in fact a strong possibility of what may befall your world, what you will see is the result of what happens if these dark forces of Remnant … succeed," the lights dimmed, and the screen came on, slowly becoming clear as the group took their seats, watching as the image became clear and showing them this new and dark reality.

The possible dark fate of Remnant.

* * *

"…"

**VWHOOOHH**

"…"

**Clink-Clink-Clink**

**Skrsh-skrsh-skrsh**

**A lone figure made their way through the silent and broken ruins that surrounded them, making their way through the broken and twisted ruins of buildings that had fallen and apart or were smashed apart from whatever had torn through the area …**

… **large gaping claw marks, massive holes that appeared to have been made by exceptionally large creatures and finally imprints on the floor that looked like large paws or clawed feet.**

**The source of the devastation was obvious …**

**GRRRRR**

… **and was still present.**

**The figure turned to see a pack of four beowolves, led by a beowolf alpha, its body coated in a heavy layer of bone armor as it glared hatefully at the figure … **

… **who merely looked back at the wolves.**

**GROOAA-SKIIICHHH**

**The Alpha roared at the figure … and was suddenly impaled by a pointed spear of light green light that seemed to emit the energy that made it up like a mist that came off in a subtle wafting pattern.**

**The Alpha began to drop to the ground from the spear as it seemed to … harden!**

**Instead of the body dispersing into a puff of ashen dust as all Grimm are known to, its whole structure instead seemed to harden up, the colors that made it up slowly melting away as veins of light spread from the spear to the alphas body, the color from all parts disappearing, until finally its eyes seemed to burn away in a puff of ashen dust that it should have turned into when it is normally killed.**

**Instead the body of the alpha beowolf had completely solidified into a stonelike material, the Grimm now a large hardened statue of a pitch-black material, the cracked lines of light still shining through the body, only to fade.**

**CRRSSCCHHHH**

**The moment the light faded and the spear dispersed, the statue crumbled apart, crashing to the ground in a broken and shattered heap, the head of what was the alpha beowolf rolling a good distance before it broke apart against a large chunk of debris.**

**The remaining beowolves could only look on as their leader was reduced to a shattered pile on the ground before looking back to the one that killed their leader …**

… **who had three more spears hovering above them, three spears that then shot forward.**

**SRRIISCCHHH-SKRISCHH-SKIICHH**

**CRRRMMMBBLLLEEE**

**Three piles of dark material now littered the ground, and the unknown figure made their way past the piles and onward through the ruin.**

* * *

The group could only look on in stunned silence, wondering what they had just looked at.

"Wait-wait, th-the Grimm don't die like that, you kill them and they turn into dust right, well not the Dust we use in our stuff, but the stuff that covers stuff when it's not cleaned, they don't … solidify into black statues, right?" Yang was left very confused by what she saw, as all her experience told her that what she saw not what happened to Grimm when they die.

"Th-the Grimm, they b-became like-like statues, they don't do that right, they aren't like that, right?" Ruby was incredibly confused at how the Grimm died in such a way.

Wiess was left to stunned by what she saw to make a quote, Blake did not even know what to say.

For Ozpin and Glynda, it took their years of training and muscle memory …

… not to spill their drinks all over their laps, which would have hurt, a lot.

"What you see will be explained later on, and trust me, when you see it, you will be shocked beyond words or memory," Mirai turned back as the viewing continued.

* * *

**The figure made their way through the broken ruins of their current location, walking along until the individual stopped.**

**They looked at what caused them to stop, and suddenly the scenery before them began to change.**

**Suddenly they were surrounded by a large courtyard, and around them walked many individuals, and all of them were young men and women that seemed to be in their late teens or early adult years, all of them wearing similar clothes, uniforms if the individual remembered correctly.**

**It looked around at the image as it saw many individuals as they walked to and fro, talking to those by their side, sitting around in the shade of trees that adorned the courtyard, or making their way to their next class, a stack of books in hand.**

**Then it looked back, the figures hood obscuring their features, and there stood …**

* * *

"ME," Ruby gasped as she saw who it was that stood in the courtyard.

Indeed, the group saw that the person the figure was looking at was in fact Ruby Rose, dressed in her Beacon Academy uniform, her hood draped on her shoulders and looking up with a bright smile at whatever she was seeing.

"But if that's Ruby, and she and all those people are wearing," Wiess felt her eyes widen as fear enters her eyes, "then that means that that's!"

* * *

**Then the figure saw as the girl turned to look elsewhere, the figure seeing a group consisting of a three other girls, a white haired girl who emitted a type of regal elegance, a dark haired girl with a rather mysterious and slightly dark aura, and a boisterous girl with voluminous yellow hair and a well-developed body as she appeared to be calling out to the first girl.**

**The girl ran over to them, in a way that she burst into flower petals that wafted off of her rapidly accelerated form, before stopping directly in front of the girls and talking them for a bit before the went into one of the buildings.**

**The figure looked to see them enter one of the buildings at the end of the courtyard, and in the center of the courtyard, where there was a fountain in the middle of the courtyard in front of a large building, the fountain showing statue an armed man and woman standing on a large rock with the statue of a beowolf that seemed to be fleeing.**

**The figure then watched as an autumn leaf flew near where they stood, and reached out to grab it …**

… **only for the leaf to crumble to dust, and the vibrant world where the figure stood faded away.**

**The figure stood once more in the broken and decayed ruins of what was once a large and vibrant academy, the buildings now collapsing and ruined, the large building having fallen in on itself, and the statue was smashed to pieces.**

**The figure noticed a piece fabric beneath some rubble near the fountain, and slowly moved the rubble out of the way to find what seemed to have been a piece of the clothing she saw the individuals in her 'vision' wear, and it appeared to be a badge of some type.**

**The words were legible, and the figure spoke what they said, in a soft voice that bordered on a whisper, but with clear effeminate tone that denoted the possible gender of the individual.**

"… **Beacon Academy …"**

* * *

"Dammit, dammit," Yang said as she spoke through ground teeth as she saw the fate of the school that had become such a large part of her and her friends lives, now reduced to a broken ruin of itself, smashed to pieces, another thing that was destroyed by the beasts of Grimm.

Though the question remained.

"H-How, how did that happen, that's BEACON ACADEMY, the school of huntsmen, a school filled with huntsmen, everyone who lived there was a huntsman, how could that have happened, why did happen," Wiess was beside herself with worry and confusion, seeing one of the most prestigious huntsman academies on all of Remnant reduced to a dilapidated, Grimm filled ruin was too much for her to handle.

CRASH

Everyone turned their attention to see that it was a cup of coffee that had fallen to the ground, and the saw Ozpin holding the broken pieces of the coffee mugs handle in the now iron tight and slightly bleeding clenched fist of a very upset and angered Ozpin, seeing the Academy he swore to guard now reduced to a broken and twisted ruin.

Ozpin and Glynda, joined by RWBY and NPR, all gave intense looks to Mirai, who impassively looked back at them before she spoke.

"You will have your answer, for the protagonist of this viewing will soon have another vision, one that will put you front and center to what happened," Mirai stated as she looked at the screen as it continued, before making on last quip, "a look at 'The Fall of Beacon', and 'The destruction of Vale'.

The viewing continued as the assembled group were left in silent horror at what they would see next.

* * *

**The individual continued on her way, using her light spears to strike down any Grimm that happened to be nearby, with the remains of the Academy mostly having Beowolves and the errant Ursa, the bear-like Grimm being left crumbling piles of dark material just like the Beowolves before them.**

**The figure continued on their way, and saw what appeared to be the base of what was once a massive tower in the distance, now a broken and crumbled pile of broken stone and metal scattered all over the wide expanse around the former tower.**

**This time, the figure was able to see it …**

… **an 'coalescent memory node' or a 'memory node'.**

**If a 'memory node' was here, then it meant that an event involving many memories of individuals who were now gone had occurred and giving the size of the 'node' whatever occurred was immense.**

'**It probably centers around the events that led to this place becoming a ruin,' the figure thought to themself, the slightly effeminate tone should have made the individuals gender clear …**

… **yet there was still something slightly off.**

**The person walked over to the node, then felt their foot hit something, causing them to turn and see …**

… **the remains of a mechanized soldier, a humanoid weapon developed by a nation called Atlas, and the figure noted several others that seemed to lie on the ground in various states of damage.**

**As she looked over the machines she noted that most of them appeared to have been damaged not by the Grimm's bestial means, rather noting clean single cuts and multiple holes from projectile weapons, including some with blunt damage that seemed to have come from a fist, a human fist.**

**The individual was left perplexed, why were these machines, created solely to safeguard humans, left in such a state by human weapons.**

'**What happened here …' the figure thought, wondering why human weapons had been destroyed by human means.**

**Then it noticed a large object not too far away, the figures seeing that it was one of Atlas's automated bipedal weapon platforms, a mechanized system that was used to fight larger Grimm species, and noticed damage to a building that the weapon was facing.**

'**Gaping holes rimmed with scorch marks, deep impacts in the ground around it, and impacts that would be consistent with an individual of either human or faunas weight being slammed into the surface, it was attacking people … why?'**

**The figure realized that it would get no further answers from just looking around and made their way to the 'node'.**

* * *

"Wh-what is, why in the," Wiess was beside herself with confusion and warry, "why are Atlas 'Knights' on Beacon ground, why is there a 'Paladin', why is there all that damage, why were they damaged by weapons, what's going on."

"I would also like to have an answer as to why there are Atlesian weapons on the Academies grounds, or why they seem to have caused direct damage to the school infrastructure and perhaps even the faculty, or worst …" Ozpin gave off a dangerous air as he decided that the moment he could, he would have some choice words with the man who led the Armed Forces of Atlas.

The others, nervous at seeing an angry Ozpin and worried over why Atlas weapons were left littered over the Academy and were apparently responsible for some of the destruction.

"You will see soon enough, because the answer for the 'Atlas robots' need to be there' part will be coming … now," Mirai queued.

* * *

**The figure moved over to the 'node' and stepped into the wisps that made up the 'node', and when it did, the world shifted …**

… **and the world was burning.**

**The figure moved around rapidly as it saw multiple individuals running around rapidly, all heading into on general direction, each wearing their own unique clothes and wielding a weapon that was either relatively simple or overtly complex, all of whom were rushing in the direction of multiple flashing lights, as the vision was soundless …**

… **that was until a red hue covered the 'vision' and with it came noise.**

**/ALERT, LEVEL 9 GRIMM INVASION DETECTED, ALERT/**

**The alarm mixed with the automated alert blared through the area as the multiple individuals, the huntsmen of Beacon were running to fight the threat.**

**Then a loud rush of air came up, and the figure turned to see what it was.**

**The sound came from sixteen verti-craft, all flying low as they seemed to stop above the Academy, and all having the red mark of an angry beast baring its fangs, then it opened its side door …**

… **and from it, an Ursa Minor roared as it then leapt out onto the ground, and immediately attacked the students.**

**The scene played itself several times as more verti-craft released more Grimm from their holds, the individual left confused as to how the craft could even transport the Grimm without the monsters destroying the craft from the inside out, much less not attacking or lashing out in anyway, given how smoothly the verti-craft flew as they disgorged their violent packages.**

**The situation seemed to escalate drastically as the beasts tore through the Academy grounds, and witnessed several of the students fall to the beasts, many either being outright torn apart and some just being overwhelmed, though for the most part the students held firm.**

**Then gunfire erupted through the area, the individual seeing several students and people being shot until their aura dropped and then killed or just died outright, looking to the source as several individuals in white and black clothing, wielding either swords or rifles, and all wearing masks similar to that of the Grimm were now running attacking both the huntsmen and civilians indiscriminately, and only attacking Grimm that seemed to come to close, yet the majority of the beasts of Grimm seemed to ignore the murderous group as they continued to attack the young huntsmen and civilians.**

'**Murderous man-beasts, White Fang, Vale branch, murderous beasts using the excuse of 'justice' and 'equality' to justify their malice and violence against any they see as being in their way …"**

**The individual witnessed as several of the White Fang surrounded a young huntress, who had been left injured and bleeding from fighting off a Grimm, and was also a faunas just like them, but they offered no aid … only death.**

**SQUELCH**

**A blade pierced the faunas huntress in the chest, the huntress dying on the spot as her murderers continue to attack other huntsmen and civilians.**

'… **even their own people,' the individual stated sadly as they looked at the girls dead body, cut down in cold blood while still young, and showing the sheer hypocrisy of the of the so called ' faunas liberators'.**

'**The original founder, whoever it is, should feel nothing but shame and despair at seeing what was once a 'movement of peace' become a 'cult of evil'.'**

* * *

The group were left stunned, confused and horrified at what they had just witnessed, none more so than the resident faunas, who was now trying to say anything to try and refute what was being said, what was being done, yet all that came out was …

"N-n-n-no-no, th-this, it can't, no, but the … the Whi- … they …. No … no … 'hick' why 'ugh' 'uuugh' 'uuaaahh," Yang moved to hug her now crying partner, the rest of RWBY also coming to the now loudly weeping Faunas as she now held her partner and she cried her heart out at seeing the how far gone the group her father had created and that she once believed so deeply in, now a twisted mockery of the original organization she once knew.

"Miss Mirai is what is happening here also what happens in our world," Ozpin asked with a dark look on his face at what he witnessed.

"The part regarding the 'Altered Arc', yeah lets use that now for these moments, for the 'Altered Arc', the power the 'Arc' wields, and how they came to know about that calamity, I believe those things are basically part of that reality," Mirai stated as she then took on a more darker tone and had a saddened expression, "but the Grimm invasion, the White Fang using Grimm in the attack, and the Fang themselves attacking and killing civilians and huntsmen alike in the attack … yes, yes that indeed happens in the vast majority of a RWBY-type realities and is very likely to happen in your reality, to those who cant handle the cold hearted truth, sorry."

The group were now left quite disturbed and very worried, now knowing that such a thing can happen in their reality, and that it likely will happen caused a sense of fear and dread to well up in them …

… then Mirai spoke, and it got worse.

"What comes next is even worse."

* * *

**The memory continued, the Grimm were now storming into the campus from wherever they had come from, and the White Fang continued to attack the huntsmen and civilians that were still in the area, the huntsmen being pushed as they were still too young and inexperienced, having only expected to fight and kill Grimm, none of them able to fight with the White Fang well as the murderous terrorists fought with terrible ferocity against the young huntsmen, ending their lives while most of the huntsmen could only really try to knock their opponents out of the fight, which was honestly easier said than done.**

'**This is getting worse, and I feel it will only worsen'**

**Yet the entity was then shaken from that thought when several large bullets shot from behind passed by and through them, as it was reliving a large memory and thus not really present, and saw the bullets cut down the Grimm in sizeable numbers and also tore into the terrorists, forcing many to cover as the new attackers made their way in.**

**The individual was soon among a large force of Atlas's automated weapons in the form of several Atlas 'Knights' supported by three 'Paladins', the automated units firing at the Grimm, cutting down their number, while at the same time the White Fang kept their heads down, some of their number getting caught in the open and being shot down by the multitude of Atlesian automatons.**

**The individual saw this as a major turning point in the fighting, with the defending huntsmen now able to evacuate the civilians quicker and start pushing the Grimm and White Fang back.**

**Yet something was not right.**

'**Why are they not retreating,' the individual noticed that the White Fang troops were staying hunkered in their position, holding their ground even as the Atlas machines closed in, and even when some of their group were overtaken, they still held firm, 'its almost like … they are waiting for something.'**

**Then … it happened.**

**The world was tinged a much darker red color, with everything now bathed in a deep crimson light, as though blood now covered everything in sight.**

**It was then that the 'Knights' and 'Paladins', just stopped moving.**

**The individual was disturbed by this and held their hand out to a 'knight' and found that they could now enter the 'machine-mind' of the Knight.**

**It found itself before a blue screen, showing order on it that read …**

**/OBJECTIVE: Eliminate Grimm and White Fang hostiles**

**/SECONDARY: Ensure Civilian safety. Aid local Huntsmen and Kingdom security forces**

**The screen showed that these were the goals that drove the actions of the automatons, yet now there was a thin bar, with the words 'updating' over the thin bar as red light seemed to rapidly fill the bar.**

**Then the bar filled, the screen said complete …**

… **and the whole screen turned blood red, and on the screen appeared a piece from what the individual remembered was from a 'strategy-type' board game that humans and faunas were known to play, a game called chess.**

**The piece shown was the 'Queen' piece of the game, the piece was pitch black and ominous against the red screen.**

**Then the goals of the automaton disappeared, and in their place, a single goal appeared.**

**/OBJECTIVE: Eliminate Targets**

**Then it saw three columns of information open, all linked to the new goal and they were labeled.**

**/VALE CIVILIAN REGISTRY**

**/BEACON STUDENT REGISTRY**

**/ATLAS MILITARY ROSTER**

'**Oh no'**

**Its vision returned to where it still stood, looking at the unmoving Atlas machine …**

… **that then started to move again.**

**The moment they stood straight, the 'machine eyes' of the units shifted from a cool blue, to a deep red.**

**The machines soon hefted their weapons into firing position …**

… **and turned to face the huntsmen and civilians.**

'… **horrible …'**

**RATATATATATA**

**BSHOOM-BSHOOM**

**The Atlas machines opened fire at the huntsmen and civilians, tearing into the scared and terrified civilians, not even noticing as White Fang forces rushed out of their spots, helping the machines in their horrific goal, and the Grimm soon were amongst the machine, and attacked them as well as the fleeing civilians, huntsmen and even Fang, though the machines didn't even react to this.**

**They just kept shooting, striking down human, huntsmen, and non-White Fang faunas as they attacked, and the sounds of weapons fire was echoing around the city, along with the screams of the dying and wounded.**

**Then a 'Paladin' aimed up, targeting a civilian verti-craft that was trying to fly away …**

… **it fired, and it hit.**

**The craft fell, sent careening straight at where the individual now stood, and it smashed into the 'Paladin' that had shot it down before crashing in front of the individual, the light from its explosion blossomed forward, and the world fell away.**

"…"

"…"

**The individual found themselves back in the middle of the now empty and ruined courtyard, looking to the one side of the courtyard to see the destroyed civilian verti-craft from the 'memory', the wreckage entangled with the now destroyed and inert 'Paladin', another appearing to have been cut in two and a final one simply lying collapsed against the ground, seeming to have just shut off.**

**The individual turned to the collapsed tower and made their way to the structure in silence.**

* * *

If they thought they could not feel greater sorrow before, everyone was now feeling it now, and it was now Wiess was now the one who was left wallowing in despair.

"Why … why would … who would, those people, they killed them, those were from my home, they should have saved them, why … why would … ugh … gugh," Ruby now came to Wiess's side, the Schnee heiress gripping on to Ruby as she bawled her eyes out, seeing what the machines of Wiess's home had done, and felt heartbreak at it all.

Ozpin and Glynda had very angered and crossed looks on their faces and had the same thought of speaking to a certain Atlesian General that they both knew needed to answer some profoundly serious questions.

"Now we get to see a bit more of the 'Altered Arc' and I will explain why there is now use of gender-specific pronouns being used here as well as why they are at the ruins of what was that realities Beacon Academy," Mirai stated as the viewing continued.

* * *

**The individual continued onto the tower, and walked through a large hole that used to be the front entrance, walking past shattered desks, smashed walls, countless pieces of technology that were left broken beyond repair …**

… **and arrived before a massive pit that used to be the bottom floor of the tower, the pit reached deep into the earth, and seemed to continue for a long while.**

**The individual then removed the hood, allowing a glimpse of their face.**

**The face indeed seemed to fit that of a young woman in their early twenties, the face having the all the features denoting the individual's identity as a woman.**

**Yet, there were some subtle portions, more sharpened features, deeper complexion, a near imperceptible masculine edge that seemed to place the current gender of the individual in doubt.**

**Then … there was everything else.**

**The eyes that gazed into the pit glowed with light green light, a pattern infused into the iris that channeled the energy, the pupil of the eye emitted the same light green energy, causing the eye to slightly glow. Then came the face and visible parts of the head and neck, which had lines running along it that seemed like a sort of tattoo that was drawn on, the lines a dark green color, only the lines were too deeply flush to the skin to be actual tattoos and the light green energy that lightly ran through the marks showed that the marks were in fact a natural part of its body. The other notable feature were the ears, which seemed to be the right size and shape for a human ear, yet instead of being circular, the ears seemed to be slightly pointed, and the inside of the ear had small lines of the same dark green pattern as the other lines on the head along with shoulder length light green hair that had a soft glow to it.**

**The seemingly female individual then peered into the pit, its eyes glowed briefly as it looked deep into the hole, and through its vision, it made out what lay below.**

'**Found it'**

**The individual nodded as it had reached its destination.**

**Then the cloak seemed to flutter up a bit, a strong gust of wind seemed to a blown in and revealed the rest of the individual.**

**The individual wore an outfit that seemed to mix parts of a relatively sturdy dress with light armor at certain parts, the outfit appearing to be what a huntsman would wear, a long sleeve white shirt with a small breastplate covering parts of the chest and stomach, the breastplate being a more flexible type with the armor worn in segments connected by a thread-like metal weave, which also showed the chest, while not very large, was in fact that of a female and should have been the final nail in the coffin for the argument.**

**Yet it was not, as the rest of the individual seemed to still have a more structured and masculine build, which could just be attributed to having a more muscular physique, there was still that small inkling that gave the impression that the gender of the individual was still in doubt.**

**The individual wore relatively tight shorts that were about thigh length with a waist cape at the hips, the shape also appearing to be another nail in an already mostly sealed coffin, yet it was not, and the outfit ended with black stockings that were of a thick fabric specifically for colder times, and had boots that were low heeled and light green in color.**

**Also, on its back, hanging at the waist was a large scabbard that had the hilt of the blade showing small patterns on its surface and what seemed like minute scribbling on much of the hilts surface.**

**Yet in the middle of its back, the shirt had a large diamond shaped opening, and along the center of the back, moving parallel to the spine on both sides, were the same dark green patterns as on the other parts of the body, except the patterns were a darker color and formed a sweeping pattern that went along the spine in a downward sweeping direction.**

**The reason for such an opening and the patterns on the individuals back were soon made clear.**

'**Well, time to begin'**

**Then, from the swept marks on the individuals back, the light green energy erupted outward and then rapidly coalesced into a tangible form, the form of two thin, slightly curved wings, the wings themselves appeared to resemble long thin leaves, four in total, the top two being longer, larger and more spread out, while the bottom two were a bit smaller, thinner, and closer together. The wings themselves rippled with light green energy, the glow strong and clear in the darkened sky, the grey clouds, causing the surrounding area to have a haze of grey, no lit by the individuals 'wings of light'.**

**The wings pulsed as they moved slightly down, and the individual was lifted slightly off the ground as they now seemed to glide up into the sky, and then moved forward in the air, until they hovered over the very center of the hole.**

'**Right here, this is where the 'pulse' must be set'**

**The figure then reached into the cloak, and a circle of energy appeared within, and the figure reached into the circle, pulling out a single cube, the texture of the cube resembled polished stone, with a mix of emerald and forest green colors on its surface.**

**The individual then held the cube up, and started to fill the cube with energy, and then held the cube with using the energy, the cube floating between its hands as energy funneled into the cube, and the cube soon began to pulse with energy, and its form began to morph opening into five parts, the four sides of the cube and a single sphere in the center that radiated the energy the individual had poured into the cube.**

**Then the pieces began to expand as the individual flew slightly back while still feeding energy into the cube as it began to expand, and its shape began to change.**

**The cube had now fully expanded into a sphere one meter in diameter, three elongated scalene triangles, all four sided and half a meter in length, with the final piece having become two meters long and formed a for sided triangle pyramid shape with an opening on the top and bottom, the pyramid itself was inverted so the bottom was pointing up to the sphere while the top pointed into the hole, and inside the whole were many turbine-like shapes within the bottom pyramid structure, all rotating at separate speeds.**

**The light from the sphere began to glow brightly and then funneled into the bottom structure, going into the opening on the top(bottom), and then the flowing down as the 'turbine' began to merge and focus the energy into a denser and more potent form, the light of the energy growing more radiant as it made its way to the opening at the bottom(top), and began to build up from there, waiting to be released.**

'**It's ready, and with this, the Grimm will not be an issue here anymore'**

**The individual then held its hand out to the structure, energy coalesced in its hand.**

**Then the individual spoke …**

**{Aktivieren}**

**The structure pulsed as the three pyramids hovering at three points around the sphere rapidly rotated, and from the opening on the bottom pyramid aimed into the hole …**

**THHHRRRRMMMMMM**

… **a beam of pure energy shot straight down into the whole, a radiant green light pulsing through the area as the light shot deep into the hole, traveling at rapid speed …**

… **until it reached the bottom …**

… **and what lay at the bottom.**

**BSSSRRHHHHMMM**

**GRAAAAAAAAAOOOOORRRR**

**The light struck the bottom of the whole, and punched straight down onto a massive draconic Grimm that made its den within the hole, the very hole it created long ago, the monster surrounded by many viscous black pools and several small Grimm that seemed to emerge from the holes, mostly Creeps, Beowolves, some Ursa and even some aerial Grimm such as Griffons and Nevermores.**

**Then the beam struck, and a pulse of energy blasted through the whole, smashing the dragon Grimm into the ground and sending pulses of energy throughout the hole, the energy burning into the beasts of darkness, pulsing through their bodies … **

… **and causing the Grimm to begin breaking into pieces, hardening and breaking down in a way similar to how the individual dispatched the earlier Grimm, only this was happening on a much larger scale as countless numbers of the beasts died and the Dragon Grimm roared in pain and agony as its own skin started to harden and break apart.**

**The energy soon began to sink into the ground and spread rapidly, and when the energy hit the Grimm spawning pools at the bottom of the pit, the pools began to rapidly and viciously bubble up as the energy began to spread through and into the pools, until the pools finally hardened up, becoming the same solid black material and crumbling soon after, leaving just a dark patch on the ground.**

**The spawning pools had been purged, and the energy continued to spread into the ground as continued onward, the Dragon Grimm roaring in obvious agony as it thrashed around the bottom of the pit, still being hit by the beam and being harmed by the energy particles that now began to fill the whole from the beams impact, along with the ground around it which was now saturated by the energy.**

**The individual nodded to itself as it sensed the energies progress from where it still hovered.**

'**Thus, does the reach of the Fae and the end of 'their' dominion draw ever closer to concluding, but now is the time to be alert and to guard this point until the 'Aether Pulse' has fully stabilized.'**

**The now known Fae then reached for the sword on its back, and pulled the sword out, though the 'sword' was markedly short and a bit uneven, and appeared to have been made of many metal pieces, looking like it would come apart at any moment …**

**PIINNGG**

… **until a pulse of energy resonated through the blade and it expanded into a giant sword, with the blade having the standard shape of a regular sword only much large and the blade was made out of the same energy that the Fae itself used.**

**The Fae held its sword in its right hand, and held the blade to its side as it prepared to fight, the multiple shadows approaching from the distance and rushing to the Fae and more specifically to the 'Aether Pulse' construct, and the Fae looked to the approaching Grimm, mostly Griffins and Nevermores and calmly said …**

**{kommen und sterben Tiere der Zerstörung}**

* * *

"To those who want some answers I can answer only three questions before we go back into the viewing, speak want you want to say now or hold to the end," Mirai turned to the crowd who had faces that demanded answers, and who now spoke to one another to try and decide what their questions will be, until they finished and Ruby spoke first.

"So, what is Jaune now, what is a Fae," Ruby asked, then Nora chirped as she realized what the others did not.

"Oh, I know what that is, glowing fluttering wings, the bright light, and come on … Fae," Nora went on, though the others didn't seem to get it yet, "a fairy, Fearless Leaders a Fairy."

The others were about to question what Nora was talking about, until they heard someone clapping, and saw it was Mirai herself, a content smile on her face.

"Once again Nora, your hidden intelligence and perception shine through again, yes, the Jaune Arc in this reality was is, in simple terms, a fairy, though different yet similar to the type talked about in myth, and since we need to get back to the viewing in a bit I will give you all a brief rundown," Mirai cleared her throat as a holo-screen came up.

"Fairies or the Fae are spirits of nature, or spirits that embody nature, be it the trees, the wind, the light, the shadow, even the seasons of the year, and are usually seen as small humanoids with fluttering wings and the ability to manifest the aspect of nature they represent, and in the case of that realities Jaune Arc, he had become a Fae and thus was altered into the form you now see, and this is where the question of 'his' gender comes into play," Mirai waited to until all where now paying attention and spoke again, "you see, in this instance, in technical terms, the Jaune Arc in this reality is, to your shock and amazement, a 'male'."

"WHAT, bu-but h-she's," then Mirai held her hand up to the confused audience.

"I said this Jaune was 'male', but I did not say a male human, for the Fae of that reality are a uni-gendered race, the whole species has the same body type, but can be classified by their proportions, standard size, even the shape of their wings, but all members of the species that that realities Arc has now become all have a female form, with their wings being their primary distinguishing point between 'male' and 'female' Fae, also a small spoiler here," two holo-screen came up, one showed Fae 'Jaune Arc', and the other showed a separate Fae, the other Fae being far more feminine having long red hair and deep red eyes that seemed to hold a deep warmth within along with being more 'developed' than Fae 'Arc', wearing an 'armored dress', the fabric a sort of vibrant red with armor segments on the front on at the hem of the skirt, white/red shorts with a satchel hanging from the back along with the Fae's scabbard, the Fae holding its sword out, with the blade being large single edged blade that glowed a fiery red through its structure, and wore armored boots that went to just below the knees and had thigh high socks that were also red but had white patterns on them, the Fae's body had 'aether lines' similar to Fae 'Arc' but were red instead of green, and the wings were more rounded and larger than the wings of Fae 'Arc'.

"Here it is, the main difference between a 'male' and 'female' Fae is their wing structure, a 'males' wings are thinner and more streamlined while a 'females' are larger and more stable, there is also the fact that 'male' Fae are not as 'developed' as a 'female' Fae but that is not a stable form of identifying the difference in a Fae's gender, and that is all I can give to you now, you can go over any other information later, on to the other two questions," Mirai waited for them to answer, and it was Wiess who asked next.

"What is the language sh-the Fae, what was the Fae speaking, it sounds a bit like Old Mantlelian, but it sounds a lot older than that," Wiess asked and Mirai smirked a bit.

"The language is actually from the Prime reality and is known as German, originating from those who, in the Prime reality, would go on to create the nation of Germany as well as a few other smaller nations, and this ties into the existence of the Fae in your reality as the myth of fairies and other such spiritual creatures emerged in the Prime reality, on the continent Europe, a continent which Germany is a country of, along several other countries that are part of Europe, and Germanic-dialect is what the Fae in the reality we are seeing, speak," Mirai stated before saying, "last question, what is it Ozpin.

"Ahem, the 'Aether' that the Fae make use of, why does it have such effects, and what exactly is it," Ozpins question came with a response, one he did not expect.

"If you are wondering whether the 'Aether' has any correlation to the 'other' important matter that you know about, then I must disappoint you as 'Aether' is not at all linked to what you may be thinking off, as its effects on the Grimm all but show, 'Aether' is a foreign energy to the Grimm, and thus their bodies suffer worse damage from exposure to it, leading to them dying as you saw," Mirai stated to them, before a darker tone came in, "and not just the Grimm, later on you will see that the 'Aether's' lethality can go far beyond just the soulless beasts that roam your world."

Then the screen pulsed a bit and Mirai turned back to it, "now comes the more intricate part, where we will get an explanation as to how the Jaune Arc of this reality had become a Fae, which is not a happy tale I'm afraid."

* * *

'**Haah, another battle, more of the Dark ones constructs ****sent to die for a purpose now gone,' the Fae held its weapon at the ready to kill the oncoming hordes, still thinking to itself, 'to think that, all those years ago, I was told by those closest to me that I would never be someone who could threaten even the weakest of these dark constructs, that I would never become a 'hero', one who would save the people …'**

'… **guess they were right.'**

**The Fae witnessed the first Grimm that approach, and sent forth several lances of pure light, sending several Griffin and a few Nevermores crashing to the ground and shattering on impact, and witnessed more approaching.**

**The Fae's wings flashed with light, and it shot forth, flying straight at the approaching horde, all the while, thoughts of its life came through, what it was now, how it came to be …**

… **and who it was before, all weaving together into a tale, the tale of its past.**

_**The beginning came upon its past form being born into the world, a child of the human race, borne of the male gender, or a 'boy' as humans called young males of their race, and it was borne with the name of Jaune Arc, a name that now seemed distant and strange to it. It was borne to a very large human family, known as the Arc family, who were renown for the many warriors that went to battle against the beasts of Grimm, be they male or 'female', with human females having a physical form closer to our own. Yet the fate of becoming a warrior of this large family called 'the Arc Clan', was not to be for Jaune Arc …**_

… _**for a different fate awaited much further into 'his' life.**_

**SKRISSCHH**

**An Ancient Nervermore and many Elder Grimm were sliced in twain and crumbled into pieces before falling to the ground below, the Fae swinging its blade behind it, the blade releasing a crescent wave of energy, cutting down a flock of Griffon as they attacked, dying all at once.**

**The Fae gazed back at the construct, seeing the 'core' glowing with a soft green light, with a glittering light in the center.**

**{es braucht noch Zeit, um sich vorzubereiten, und ich werde ihm diese Zeit geben}**

_**It happened on the time where the four seasons would renew in what was called a year, in fact twelve years had passed when a certain fact became acknowledged, actually a few. The first was that it had stopped growing after its eight year of growth, remaining at roughly the size of a child. The second was that its muscle development was not increasing, no amount training or workout seemed to increase. There was also the fact that Jaune Arc, a 'male', had a form the was almost blatantly 'female', though that was not as important in the long run. It was what occurred later, in Jaune Arc's twelfth year that events took a turn for the worse, at least in 'his' mind.**_

_**His father, the one who told 'him' the stories of his ancestors, of the great and noble deeds, had slowly grown distant as he saw his 'son' remain young and undeveloped, while Jaune's sisters all developed into fine young women and strong warriors, having gone on to become the heroes known as 'huntsmen', while Jaune 'himself' remained a small, weak child, who grew to curse 'his' own weakness. Then one day, his father and mother both decided that they would at least unlock his Aura, and Jaune agreed, hoping that at least 'he' could show that, like all the huntsmen out there, he could have power …**_

… _**he could have been a hero.**_

_**This is where events took a horrible turn.**_

_**The process began as normal, and suddenly went directly downhill, with Jaune Arc being left deeply scarred and injured when the Aura that entered him to awaken his own instead began to surge through Jaune Arc and cause direct damage to his body as it continuously went through him.**_

_**The process ended in failure and a trip to the doctor heralded the death of Jaune Arc's dream.**_

_**ADS, Aura Deficiency Syndrome, an illness that afflicts a small percentage of the population, with the illness causing an individual to have a defect in their body that not only prevented Aura generation, but appeared to outright reject it …**_

… _**and Jaune had it.**_

* * *

"Aura … Deficiency … Syndrome," Wiess said in shock as she heard that the Jaune in the reality they saw had such a disease, "is there, did we have such a disease like that in our reality."

It was, unsurprisingly, Ozpin who answered.

"I am afraid that, yes, there is a disease in our world that has similar qualities in our world, it's called Aura Suppression Disease, it is a temporary illness with flu like symptoms, but so long as an individual is infected by it, they are wholly unable to use either their Aura or Semblance until they get better, other such illnesses of the type are either unimaginably rare, or are almost entirely rumors."

Ozpin's explanation of such an illness actually existing did not go over well with the group, though compared to a temporary loss of Aura compared to never being able to use it, the group felt even worse for the fate of their friend in the reality they were seeing.

Though considering their friends change and how they were cutting down Grimm left and right, it seemed they got better somehow.

Mirai then cut that thought apart.

"Jaune never got better, though its more prudent to say that 'he' was never actually sick, a point that will be explained later on," Mirai sated as the viewing returned.

* * *

**SLISCH-SKRSCH-VRRSSCCHH**

**The Fae ended several dozen more Griffons as it flew through the sky around the construct, and unleashed countless more energy lances, striking down many more airborne Grimm, with ground based Grimm crowding around the hole, none able to reach the construct from where they stood, and many ended up falling into the pit itself as the edges began to crumble, the dragon-Grimm within still thrashing as its body began to fail.**

**Then the Fae noticed an attack coming, and the energy flowed into the air, and drew the air into a vortex next to the Fae, becoming a twisting barrier of wind and 'Aether' …**

… **a wind barrier.**

**FSCHM, SCHM, FSCHH**

**The wind barrier dispersed the attacks as they came in the form of several large fireballs.**

**The culprits, a horde of several large Sphinx, with several Grendel leading them, flew in, each one preparing to attack once more.**

'**Looks like more have come to join in the festivities, which means it's getting closer to ending …'**

'… **and that I can start using some more heavy 'Arts'."**

**The Fae then held its blade forward, 'Aether' gathering into the blade, and then she spoke …**

**{Hölle}**

… **and a burning lance of vibrant green energy erupted from the blade, shot to the center of the horde and exploded.**

**KSHHHOOOOOOOOOMMMMM**

**The blaze expanded in an instant, swallowing up nearly the whole horde, with a couple managing to escape the blast, and managed to fly away from the main area of the explosion, the blast being a kilometer in diameter, and every Sphinx and Grendel caught within the blast was annihilated …**

… **none that were hit by the blast survived, not one.**

**The few Sphinx and Grendel that survived tried to attack again, only for lances of pure energy to pierce the remaining few, killing off the horde, except for three Sphinx and two Grendel that had gotten close.**

**SCHRRIIII**

**The three Sphinx were instantly dispatched by an energy slash, and a Grendel lost its tail.**

**GROOOOAAAAAA**

**The two Grendel roared in rage, both preparing to attack together, with both unleashing a standard fireball attack, and both were deflected at one of the Grendel, its head disappearing as the fireballs blasted it off. The final Grendel rushed forward to strike at the Fae, only for the Fae to fly over the strike, now above the Grimm, where normally the tail would then strike at the Fae, which didn't happen as the Fae had cut the tail off.**

**SKISCH**

**A sharp thrust was all that was needed to slice the Grendel in half … ****vertically****.**

**The Fae turned to gaze at the remaining horde, and then looked back to the 'Aether Pulse'.**

**The smirk on the Fae's lips was lit up by the strong light of the 'Aether Pulse', now glowing strongly as energy seemed to 'waft' from the construct and into the air.**

**{Jetzt kommt der letzte Angriff mehr Bestien eilen zu ihrem Tod}**

**As the Fae charged forward to destroy the last of the attacking Grimm, the memory of its existence continued …**

… **to its ****conclusion****.**

_**Jaune Arc had given up.**_

'_**His' dream was dead, 'his' hope was dead, and just to drive the knife in further, his ADS caused Dust-based systems to short out or be disrupted, and basically all of Remnant used Dust-based technology in all walks of life.**_

_**A weak body, a debilitating and crippling illness, and a broken spirit.**_

_**Jaune Arc was now stuck in 'his' home, now just working at a small store in his home village, and only at night due to 'his' illness causing Dust-based devices to short out during the day, and now mostly lived with his parents, neither of whom could find or even think of a way to lift 'his' spirits, 'his' father especially, having told Jaune all about the history of their family, filling Jaune's heart with dreams and hopes, none of which will come to pass.**_

_**This left Jaune Arc to wallow in the nothing but darkness and despair, the 'boy' crying in his room, feeling 'his' heart break and his mind go deeper into its own pit of darkness, an emptiness that seemed to rush up from within his soul to course through his body.**_

_**Yet it was falling to the depths of despair …**_

… _**that awoke the light of his salvation.**_

_**In an instant, Jaune Arc awoke an unknown light that rested within the depths of his very existence, one that had been awoken by Jaune abandoning his desire to become a huntsman, and this light urged him to travel to a far off place, one where 'he' would find answers to a myriad of questions, even those that would tell 'him' of many **__**truths**__** of the world he lived in.**_

_**Jaune Arc resolved himself to go on this journey, and secretly made ready to begin his quest, and hoped to find the opening 'he' would need in order to go on his journey, for his family including his sisters had been keeping tabs on him at all times in hopes of finding a way to improve his mood.**_

_**Jaune was ashamed of himself when he seized a chance through a tragedy, a terrible conflict had sparked in the capital city of Vale, and his town had been forced to defend itself from a sudden influx of Grimm, in which 'his' family fought against.**_

_**It was then that Jaune left his home, exiting the town and running into the forest, his family left unaware as they fought against the Grimm, and would only find out a day later that Jaune Arc had disappeared.**_

'_**I know that I am causing them pain by doing this, but I need to do this, I need to know, I don't know why, but I **__**know**__** it's important.'**_

_**Jaune Arc had been re-invigorated by the light within 'himself', the light now a light-green in color, and had the feel of pure wind, and with it, Jaune was able to travel incredibly quick, being guided by an instinctual path that led 'him' to the place 'he' needed to go.**_

_**It would not be alone, for others began to join 'him' on 'his' journey.**_

_**A young 'girl' wearing rags from Mistral, a 'male' wolf-faunas from Mantle, and a child of ambiguous gender who wore indistinct clothing from Vacuo.**_

_**This group, all from different races, backgrounds, and continents, all came together, all afflicted by ADS, and all seeking the **__**truth**__** at the end of their journey, and through their journey had avoided many perils, claimed some small victories against the beasts of Grimm, finding that their lights gave them strength that could at least allow them to fight back, yet they encountered little to any of the beasts as they journeyed forward, needing only a little rest at certain points, as their light aided them in their travel.**_

_**Their group then met another who, like themselves, also had ADS and ambiguous genders as well, and more were met along the way as they traveled, the number of their group swelling from a few dozen to several hundred, and the newcomers brought with them news of what had been happening.**_

_**Remnant was dying, the nations were being overrun by the monsters of Grimm, and to the horror of all, it was by human and faunas' hands that this tragedy was being perpetuated.**_

_**Vale was a ruin, Mistral was aflame, Atlas had fallen, Vacuo had been overwhelmed, and Menagerie was only barely holding against the darkness.**_

_**As for those who had aided in bringing about the destruction, they had disappeared, either dead or in hiding after what they had wrought on the world.**_

_**The assembled group could only continue their journey, now with heavy heart at knowing that there was no home to return to, the world they once knew now gone.**_

* * *

"Why", Ruby could not comprehend what she was hearing, Jaune losing his dream, the destruction of all the nations of Remnant, and the fact that humans and faunas helped to make the disaster happen …

… "it just doesn't make any sense, why would … WHY WOULD ANYONE DO SOMETHING SO HORRIBLE!"

Ruby was not alone, the thought that the world they knew of was gone, and that people had helped make it happen, compounded by seeing their friend essentially losing his dream, many were left either softly crying or feeling deeply frustrated.

None more so than Ozpin, seeing the state of the world that he had tried to protect, seeing that it had all fallen apart, seeing that he, in this reality, had failed, and the world of Remnant …

… was gone.

Ozpin noticed that a bottle of wine had come up from Mass Transmission Array, but he thought it back through the system.

'I swore I wouldn't go back to that, even though there are moments where I have been truly tempted, but that time is not now, and hopefully not anytime soon.'

* * *

_**Their journey took them to a mountain range at the very edge of (the now fallen) Vacuo, and they entered the mountain, and went down, deep down.**_

_**It was within the depths of the Earth that they found a part of the **__**truth**__** they sought.**_

_**They entered a path deep beneath the mountain, a path that radiated energy that felt like the light they felt within themselves, the energy giving them strength and stamina to continue deeper into the unknown.**_

_**They made to the end of the path, and into a massive ruin deep beneath the surface, the ruin of …**_

… _**and **_**inverted**_** city, groups of buildings hanging down from the ceiling of the cavern, roots of massive trees long dead weaving through the inverted city, many chunks of the dead city littered the floor of the massive cavern.**_

_**The now thousand strong group looked in awe at this strange and unknown city, but their journey had not ended and they made their way into the city, moving along massive pathways and the huge dead roots to head to where they needed to go.**_

_**Yet as they went onward, the noticed that their bodies were now changing further, noticing that the energy was fueling their light, and that light was permeating their bodies, changing them on a deep level, altering them as they went on.**_

_**They had reached the very heart of the dead city, and the all now stood in the center of a large courtyard, and above them all was a ring, one that floated lazily in the air above them, suspended by the energy that permeated the dead city.**_

_**Then as the last of the group entered the courtyard, the ring began to glow with pure light, and from within the group themselves, their light came forth, their bodies now glowing the color of their light.**_

_**The ring expanded and lowered itself as energy now flowed to the center of the ring, opening into a gateway of radiant light.**_

_**No one from the group backed away or fled, they had come all the way to this unknown place, they had nothing to go back to …**_

… _**they would see the journey to the end and beyond, they all felt, with Jaune taking the hand of the 'girl' in his own, her hand gripping his in return as they and all others gazed at the ring of light as the portal came down on them.**_

_**A flash of light followed and then came silence.**_

_**Jaune opened his eyes, and gazed around 'himself', and found a pure white expanse, and saw none around where he stood.**_

_**Then 'it' appeared.**_

_**An unknown figure, wrapped in pure white cloth, appeared in a coalescent pulse of pure energy, the figure had a powerful light that seemed to fill the entirety of the space they occupied, and it held a near translucent white hand at Jau-, no.**_

'_**I am not Jaune Arc, I haven't been for a long time'**_

_**The once 'Jaune Arc' held 'his' hand forward, and the figures hand faced palm up, and a light shined in the palm, one of a warm and strong power, a power that would fully awaken the light with the (former) Jaune and lead to a final irreversible change, a change that once completed would never be undone.**_

_**No question or hesitation occurred, and the former Arc allowed the energy into 'his' body, and 'his' light now fully blossomed forward, enveloping his full form and changing his very being.**_

_**As the white expanse began to fall away and 'he' began to reawaken to the new change, the figure said but one thing, something that 'he' smiled at.**_

**{Danke} - (Thank you)**

* * *

"At least now we know what that word means," Nora said, the others nodding at now knowing at least one of the German words, "but man, Jaune-Jaune has to go through all of that to become a fairy, sheesh. I don't even think I could do all that, seriously, me."

Nora's quip was largely ignored as the audience was mostly looking at the journey Jaune had taken, the path into the city, why the city had been there, what could have happened, the energy they knew was called 'Aether', all of it.

So many questions, and so little they knew.

Though a peek at Pyrrha and her reaction to Jaune grabbing the hand of a girl she did not know caused a bit of jealousy in her, but it went away as the Jaune of this reality had never even met or known her, so she let it go as her relationship with Jaune wasn't meant to be in this reality.

* * *

'_**He' opened his eyes and noted that the clothes 'he' wore had become a bit tight in some spots and loose in others.**_

'_**He' would have made the decision from just the observation that 'he' was now a she, but from deep within new that 'he' was still a 'he' …**_

… _**just not a human 'he'.**_

'_**Then what am I,' thought the new being as they slowly looked around, finding themself on a polished floor, the surface clear and pristine, and saw how their body had become completely feminine, which left them wondering wh-!**_

_**BADUMP**_

_**A sharp pain from their back.**_

_**BADUMP**_

_**The pain mixed with heat became stronger.**_

_**BADUMP**_

'_**He' felt 'his' awakened light begin to build in 'his' back, feeling like something was about to erupt out from 'his' back, teeth clenched at the building pain.**_

_**BADUMP-BADUMP-BADUMP**_

_**The pain and heat bloomed, and 'he' felt the back of his shirt tear open.**_

_**BADUMP-SCHRRRRR**_

**{GUHAAAH}**

'_**He' felt the pain ease away, and now could see what the difference was between humanity and 'himself'.**_

'_**Wings'**_

_**The thin light green wings softly twitched and fluttered as 'he' felt them move slightly and gently, now able to stand upright once more, the soft glow of the wings illuminated the expanse of the chamber.**_

_**A light soon joined by many others, as the rest of the those who arrived now had wings of light, made from their light, now fluttering or twitching softly as they slowly got up, the forms of all present now mostly or entirely feminine, though the difference was felt within the former humans and faunas, the faunas having retained their animal features, though the features seemed far more natural in with their new bodies.**_

'_**He' was happy when 'he' saw 'her', altered as well, with radiant red wings on 'her' back, and radiant red hair and eyes, 'he' 'himself' also having a light green hair that was a bit long, reaching to 'his' back, another strong reminder of 'his' change.**_

_**It was as the two came together in a warm embrace, joyful at their survival and having been able to recognize the other, that a large door opened, the doors made of dense metal and stone, opening to outside the chamber where light poured in to the chamber along with …**_

**(Start and /GU-Wailing Capital Wald Uberlisterin)**

'_**Music …'**_

_**As the two walked to the light, they heard a sad and sorrowful music echoing through the chamber from the doorway, and both 'he' and 'his' companion made their way to the door, the others following close behind.**_

_**The stepped outside, and their vision cleared quickly as they saw where they now were.**_

'…'

'…'

'…'

_**No words could be found, none spoke even a word as everyone walked onto a large platform, flanked by two with withering trees at the top, roots running through the towers, and water gushing out of the towers openings like a waterfall.**_

_**Though any fascination at what was seen was taken away from the fact that the towers were inverted, the top pointing down and the base broken and with a tree in it, were both floating in the air with no real explanation as to how they were floating, and the water pouring from them was coming from a steady stream of water coming from the …**_

… '_**sky'?**_

_**It was not only these structures that they saw that brought silencing shock to their minds and bodies, with the unnamed 'boy' and 'girl' now holding each other's hands to try and comfort each other as they gazed at things that neither could comprehend.**_

_**The main thing that appeared before their eyes was …**_

… _**a castle …**_

… _**a **__**MASSIVE, INVERTED, FLYING CASTLE**__**!**_

* * *

The organized group was … stunned, stunned into silence just as the people they saw were.

Wiess, who had lived in the flying city of Atlas and should not have been as bothered by seeing a flying structure, was left shocked into silence at seeing the utterly immense citadel that by itself seemed to be roughly the size of Atlas itself, city and all, and seeing the whole structure completely inverted and with trees hanging from the structure and water cascading in large waterfalls that seemed to come from the 'sky' gave the castle a truly otherworldly feel.

Ruby felt a strong sense of wonder at seeing a true flying castle like she had heard about in fairytales, but also a strong sadness as she saw the castle, the sky a dreary purplish hue, with red and orange contrasting against the clouds, making it kind of sad and depressing to look at.

The others also felt how Ruby did, with Nora even saying, "It's kinda … sad."

* * *

_**The 'boy' and 'girl' looked on at the massive citadel, the base appearing like a massive gear with high walls that seemed to be several meters thick, the extensions of the 'gear wall' having a tower that seemed to float with the extensions, pointed downward and looking like the towers that were near them. The main part of the castle was a single massive building with many openings located along its structure, all intricately built into the frame of the castle, the building itself appeared to be made of smooth yet weathered stone. Around the main building were countless pathways that also floated in the sky, in fact as the two and their group looked around they witnessed many platforms, towers and large pieces of debris that seemed to be from either or both floating aimlessly in the empty 'sky' around the castle.**_

_**Yet it was not the platforms that drew the eyes of the group, rather it was what was on the platforms that drew the eyes of those assembled.**_

'_**They are the ones who are singing and playing this sorrowful melody'**_

_**They saw as many figure clad in white, tattered robes appeared to be conducting the music that echoed through the entirety of the realm they found themselves in, also startled at seeing that the building and platform they were on was also suspended in the 'sky' as well.**_

_**Then a small platform appeared, and on it they saw one of the unknown figures in person.**_

_**It had the form of a woman wearing flowing yet tattered white robes over her body, her skin a pale white color, a simple white blouse that seemed to show a bit of the chest, and a blindfold over the eyes that seemed to be patterned after a thorny vine being a strip of cloth with small triangle coming from the edges at certain point, and both hands had long fingerless gloves that went past the elbow and were also white. The rest of the 'woman's' form showed its inhuman nature, for beneath the blindfold from the eyes came thin streams of black liquid that made the 'boy' think of 'tears of perpetual sorrow', and the final point was at the hips where the legs would be.**_

_**There were none, in place of the legs was a large cluster of white, thorny roots that seemed to make up the entire lower half of the unknown creature that was most likely not a 'woman', the roots imbedded into a square platform beneath the creature.**_

_**Then it stopped singing, just the one, the rest continued the music.**_

_**It gazed at the group, and then pointed its hand to the citadel itself, and looked at them once more before the platform moved away and it continued to sing its sorrowful song.**_

_**A twitch from the back of 'boy' made 'him' aware of what needed to happen next.**_

_**The 'boy' walked to the edge of the platform, staring down into the seemingly endless abyss as 'he' focused on his new extension, feeling as light flowed from the depths of 'his' existence to the wings on 'his' back.**_

'_**He' stepped of the platform …**_

… _**dropped down into the clouds beneath.**_

_**The 'girl', worried about 'her' companion rushed to the edge of the platform …**_

… _**and was blown back as the 'boy' shot up from the clouds, leaving a strong rush of air in their wake, and flew at a rapid rate, small wisps of light coming of their wings as they flew, a look of joy on their face as they flew through the sky, the feeling of actually being able to fly sent waves of happiness through the boy.**_

_**The 'girl' got up from where 'she' had collapsed, a bit upset at the 'boy' for knocking 'her' down, so 'she' focused her own light, 'her' larger wings shining a radiant red, and then blasted off into the sky, a fiery wake trailing behind 'her' as she flew up.**_

_**The 'girl' soon caught up the 'boy', and they both began to fly with one another through the air, passing between platforms, around towers and finding that they could make contrails of light, which the used to paint many patterns of light in the sky, all while flying to the citadel.**_

_**The two were soon joined by the others, all of whom now flew with their wings, some enjoying their newfound ability, others just having fun flying in the sky, and a few who had inherent height problems were trying to keep focused on their flight ability and not how they were flying over a near endless abyss that seemed to go on forever.**_

_**They all soon focused on where they had to go, and all made a beeline for the castle, flying to one of the large openings near base of the castle.**_

_**The flight was far longer than any of them had thought, which put into perspective how unimaginably massive the castle was, with all of the members of the group as the flew into an opening in the immense citadel, and found themselves in an inverted hallway, pale roots reaching through carved and spaced openings in the floors and ceilings, statues showing armored winged warriors with swords spears and halberds were near the ceiling openings, while the bottom openings had more of the …**_

… '_**sorrowful singers' near them.**_

_**They would call the them that for now, and they now saw two other versions besides the singing one, with one having spheres around it that created the sound of a piano key when they lit up, while the other had an arm completely grown over by a many roots, which took the shape of a violin while the other held the bow that was used to play the violin, the group feeling a deep sadness at the song they played, one that would the realized seemed to seamlessly go in a loop, being played in this sorrowful place for always and eternity.**_

_**They could only continue deeper into the citadel, flying through several large passageways, over multiple expanses, passing through into the main area of the citadel.**_

_**It was here that they discovered what lay within.**_

_**A city, there was a large city that had been built into the fortress, and the city seemed to have a mix between old and new, the buildings with the designs of large houses and cottages, yet built with a smooth marble-like material that was mixed with smooth yet sturdy wood that still appeared to be in their prime even after such a massive amount of time, the traditional brick and mortar style homes with the embedded material were also in great shape.**_

_**This was not the end to what they found, as the flew together, they saw spaces for planting food and streams of clear water running through many canal systems the ran through the city itself.**_

_**Whatever other special properties the city had to offer were lost on them as they continued to fly to where they felt the end of their journey lay, flying over the silent city as they neared their destination.**_

_**It felt like almost an hour flying and many felt themselves tire from the flight, with some who were more active holding others up and bearing more of the load, giving rides on their backs to the more exhausted, while the most energetic found that they could give some of their power to another and helped those who needed more energy the most to stay aloft.**_

_**Then, they arrived.**_

_**It was at the very heart of the city, a massive building resembling a large skyscraper, with many stain glassed windows on many parts of its surface, yet what drew their attention was the was the sheer amount of light that seemed to radiate from the building itself.**_

**{endlich bist du gekommen}**

_**This voice echoed through the entirety of the city and spoke in a language that none of them had heard …**_

… _**yet they understood it the moment it was spoken.**_

_**The door to the building opened and the assorted members of the group entered the building, the song of the 'sorrowful singers' seeming to fade slightly into the background as the thousand person group walked into the heart of the building, passing by the statues of winged warriors, now on the ground and spaced around parts of the room, and heading to an opening that led up into the building.**_

_**The group flew up this large shaft, passing by many passages that seemed to go into several darkened passages that led deeper into the building, and over the openings was a symbol of a type, each different from one another as they flew up the long shat illuminated by the soft lights of strange lanterns that seemed more like glass containers with spheres of weakly glowing light within.**_

_**Then they felt the presence before they saw it as they arrived at the top of the building, domed with stained glass making up the ceiling, they saw statues, they saw several pedestals that weapons on them ranging from swords, spears and halberds, and …**_

… _**they saw … 'it'?**_

_**No …**_

**{sie haben meine Kinder zurückgegeben Hoffnung ist nach so sehr lange auferstanden} / (you have returned my children; hope has risen after so very long)**

… '_**her'?**_

_**Surrounded by a large cluster of roots and many small trees was a young woman, who stood at over 15 feet in height, was covered in the same long flowing robes and similar apparel of the 'sorrowful singers' but had no blindfold which showed her bright purple eyes, with a diamond shaped pupil pulsing with the light that radiated from 'her' body, and 'she' also had legs and feet that had pure white stockings covering them, and from her back were large radiant wings resembling that of a butterflies with thin white veins that were merged with the large roots that were around the giant.**_

_**The one to step forward, was the 'boy' (the former Jaune Arc), and the 'girl' (the one who stood by Jaune Arc for practically the entirety of their journey), and the 'boy' spoke to the giant 'female', and found that 'he' now spoke the same language as the giant 'female'.**_

**{bist du unsere Wahrheit} / (Are you our truth)**

_**The giant, winged 'woman' looked at the 'boy', smiled softly, and nodded before she gently rubbed the 'boys' head in an affectionate way with one of her fingers, and spoke to them all.**_

**{Ich bin meine lieben Kinder, mein geliebter Fae} / (I am my dear children, my beloved Fae)**

_**This was our beginning, where our future as the Fae, began.**_

**(Music Ends)**

* * *

"Uh, I um, honestly I am trying to find the right words to describe well … everything," Ruby had seen so much of what had happened to not just Jaune Arc, but so many others that had also suffered a similar fate to his own, the journey they went on, how they were changed into their new form, the upside down flying castle, the 'sorrowful singers', and even the being that she guessed was a giant Fae, all of it left Ruby with some very heavy thinking.

"So, fearless leader got sick, lost his dream, went on a journey because of some new power that woke up inside of him, went on a journey and met other like him, then they all went and found some lost civilization from a long time ago and got transformed into fairies who were probably that that lost civilization, then met what I'm thinking is the fairy queen since she called them her children and all that, and then all that stuff happening earlier was after the probably learned a whole buncha stuff and got new weapons and junk to start bringing real pain to the Grimm, probably for their survival and also probably to avenge humanity and the faunas, of course I am just guessing all of this," Nora stated aloud to the rest of the audience for giving what was a shockingly very sound explanation for what they had seen the whole time.

"There are a few more pieces to that, but everything else was nicely spot on," Mirai nodded quite content at Nora's explanation while the others could only silently contemplate what they heard, thinking through all they heard when Mirai spoke again, "there will be an explanation later on in our viewings regarding the history of the Fae in that reality, but as a freebie for staying with viewings I can tell you that the civilization created by the Fae existed on that realities Remnant from an unimaginably long time ago, and the information of how long I will also provide as a freebie for you having to suffer the effects of the 'bleed over', but I can only provide it in the form of a mural which shows the event that led to the civilizations collapse, which I will show after the viewing has concluded, and I will say now that to some here it may not make much sense, but to a very few …"

Mirai then glanced to look at Ozpin and Glynda, who were wary and a bit nervous of the hard look they gave her, as they she knew something the did not … or worst, did.

"… it will be quite familiar."

The viewing went on, now showing …

* * *

**SHUNK**

**The Fae's blade pierced through the bone armor of a Grendel, the monster breaking apart from the impact into shard of black material.**

**All around the Fae were large piles of black material, made from the countless Grimm that 'he' had executed, including multitudes of massive piles from the more massive Grimm types that were part of the ground bound types.**

**The Fae stood near the pit as the construct began to glow with pure light …**

… **and then.**

**GROOOOAAAAAARRRR**

**The Dragon Grimm emerged from the pit, its body now mostly turned into black material and falling apart, but with what strength it could manage it attempted to lunge at the Fae.**

'**To slow,' the Fae thought.**

**THRUUUUUUUMMMMM**

**A burst of light and a surge of energy erupted from the construct as the built-up energy surged out in a tsunami of light and 'aether', the energy pulsed into the ground and burned its way through the earth and surged up into the sky, the 'aether' spread into the city, filling the tunnels beneath the ground and infusing itself in to the water of every river, while the sky had contrails of 'aether' now flowing in wisps and bursts as the energy surged up into the sky and filled the air itself.**

**GROAAAAaaaaaahhhh**

**The Dragon roared once more, this time only in a weak and pitiable manner as its entire body rapidly hardened into the dark material, and soon was just a large black statue lying against the ground in its last moments.**

**The Fae walked over, lifted 'his' sword …**

**SHUNK-CRRRRMMMBBBLLLLLEEEEEEE**

… **and the massive statue crumbled into pieces, **

**The Fae turned around to view the fallen ruin of Vale itself, the energy flowing through the ruined streets, buildings, alleys and even coming up from underground as the 'aether' filled the entirety of the dead city with a radiant green light …**

… **and bringing death to the current inhabitants.**

**GRAAAAA, RAAAAGH, IAAAAGGGHHHhhhhhh-CCRRRRRMMMMMBBBLLLEEEEE**

**The Grimm that flooded the streets of Vale crumbled broke apart into pieces on the ground.**

**The Grimm in the surrounding forests including Forever Fall shattered to pieces in an instant, even the mighty Megoliath's that were the terror of all humans and faunas and the bane of all huntsmen fell to pieces on the ground, whole herds reduced to nothing but broken piles of black material on the ground.**

**Below, deep in the earth, energy seeped through the bedrock deep into the ground, saturating the countless tunnels that snaked through the mountains, all Grimm based life dying in droves from the effects of the 'aether', Grimm spawning pools fracturing and hardening over like 'earthen scabs', ending the Grimm at their source.**

**The energy soon made its way into the Ocean, sinking deep to the very bottom, poisoning the water-based Grimm, leaving them to break down into pieces in the deep ocean, with many left untouched and unchallenged for so many millennia now breaking down and dying as the 'aether' poisoned their bodies, leading to a slow and drawn out death in the darkness of the ocean.**

**The Fae watched through its eyes as the energy lead to a mass Grimm extinction, every Grimm in an area of at least 50 kilometers was now dead and would never come back.**

* * *

"Awesome, sh-'he' wiped out all the Grimm in pretty much all of Vale, that is awesome and my brain hurts from trying to figure out what is going on with the whole Fae gender thing," Ruby stated to everyone, both awed and confused.

The others also agreed, happy to see the sworn enemy of all mankind being wiped out.

* * *

**Except …**

**THRRR-SKRISCH**

… **for one.**

**Three severed, spiked tendrils fell to the ground, the Fae looking at 'his' attacker.**

'**Took her long enough to realize,' the Fae glared impassively at the creature that appeared and smirked at what she saw.**

**What resembled a crystal ball with spiked tentacles floated unsteadily before the Fae, the crystal ball having many cracks in its surface, and much of the body was hardened into the same dark material, leaving only one tendril left.**

**Then an unsteady cloud of darkness erupted from the creature, and a humanoid figure began to take shape before the Fae, standing tall and menacingly before 'him' …**

'**So, you finally showed after all time, so called Grimm Queen, Salem.'**

* * *

"Whoa, wait, Grimm Queen, the Grimm have a Queen in this world," Yang stated aloud as she, her team and NPR were stunned at the news of the Grimm having a Queen.

Ozpin and Glynda both had hard looks on their faces as they saw what was the greatest secret either of them had kept now being shown on the screen and to those who had no knowledge of her, now feeling nervous at what they were going to see …

… that is until they and their students saw the smirk on Mirai's face as she looked at them.

"You're gonna love this," she said with a worryingly sadistic edge.

* * *

'**Though I do wonder …'**

… **and then fell over, trying to keep steady only to collapse to the ground, the dark figure now on its hand and knees as it seemed to shudder and shake, as though the individual was in terrible pain.**

'… **did she like the gift we sent her.'**

**The malicious smirk that was on the Fae's face as the image of the individual became clear …**

… **and it was quite a sight for 'his' eyes.**

"**HAAH, HAAAAAAHHHHH, Y-You fu-ucks," the Grimm Queen uttered as she tried to stand, only to fail as her form became clearer.**

**She … was a wreck.**

**Hair either burnt or hanging completely loose, left mostly solid black and stone-like, her right arm almost entirely hardened over, fissures of 'aether' marred the arms entirely, the dark black dress that once gave her a malicious flair was now a charred and torn shadow of its former glory that barely covered her body, it showed her legs, both almost completely solidified into dark material, her torso had multitudes of deep gashes now hardened over into the same material as the many large dark spots that covered her body. Her head was as bad as her body, her hair now left hanging down over her face, the hair damaged and frayed from whatever had been used to attack her, then she lifted her face up …**

… **showing that half her face was twisted into an enraged snarl with a single blood red eye with a black sclera looking back in a fixed gaze of fury, while the other half had completely hardened into the same black material, cracking from Salem's attempts to move the hardened matter that was once the other half of her face.**

**Oddly, over her dark body a glowing gold light that seemed similar to an Aura pulsed on her form, and where it pulsed the dark material and hardened tears on her body seemed to try and close up and heal …**

**CRRSSHHKKKRRAAACCCKKKKK**

… **only for the light to fissure and break, what seemed to be many tears in the golden light made out of many compounded types of 'aether' that seemed like a chaotic color mix pierced the unknown light and caused it to break down, preventing it from healing Salem, in fact with each time it fissured it seemed to just spread the damage further along Salem's body.**

**Literally the power that should have been helping her, was instead now hurting her.**

'**Such a powerful thing irony is,' the Fae thought happily as Salem's tried once more to stand, and finally managed to stand upright, though very unsteadily and looking like she could collapse at any given moment.**

**Then she spoke, which proved exceedingly difficult with half her face hardened up.**

"**Yo-you, you, do you know what you have even done, wh-what you have j-just deci-ded to bring up-on y-you a-and your people, you w-will a-all d-d-dieee, m-my chil-dren will hunt all of you to the ends of the world, j-just as w-we hun-ted the humans a-and the f-faunas to extinction, y-you will a-all d-d-D-DIEEEEEE!"**

**The Fae looked at the enraged form of the Grimm Queen, still trying to look intimidating even in her current state, then 'he' smirked which seemed to further anger her as 'he' stated.**

**{Gut, das heißt, wir müssen nicht nach ihnen suchen, wir können sie alle auf einmal beenden} / (Good, that means we do not have to search for them, we can just end them all at once)**

"**Huh," Salem did not understand a word that was spoken, which made they Fae smirk more.**

**{Genau} / (Exactly)**

**Then 'he' pointed to the sky, which Salem looked up to …**

**BTOOOOOOOMMMMM**

… **just as a raging ball off fire came down right on her, dispersing her image and incinerating her Seer Grimm, leaving nothing but an ashen crater …**

… **and a familiar face for the Fae, its smirk changing to a warm and genuine smile at who stood in the crater.**

**Standing in the middle of the crater was another Fae, one with fiery red hair, red eyes and an armored dress, larger more curved wings which glowed a radiant red denoting the Fae as 'female', and in 'her' right hand, piercing the ground, was a spear made of the same metal and structure as 'male' Fae's sword though instead of light green, the bladed edges glowed a radiant red like the 'girl' wings.**

**The 'girl' then looked at the 'boy', and smiled warmly in return, before 'she' spoke to 'him'.**

**{es ist gut, Sie Aera zu sehen} / (It's good to see you Aera)**

**{Ich zu Argen, ich freue mich, Sie auch zu sehen.} / (Me to Argen, I am happy to see you as well.)**

**The two Fae greeted each other, the 'male' Aera and the 'female' Argen, now stood looking at one another, genuinely happy at seeing the other, and wishing to discuss more personal matters with one another.**

**Then both felt a strong pulse coming from the construct, and both knew what was going to happen now.**

**Argent - {Sollen wir gemeinsam die 'radiante Morgendämmerung' sehen?} / (Shall we go see the 'radiant dawn' together?)**

**Aera - {Natürlich, los lässt los} / (Of course, let us go)**

**The two Fae flew up into the sky, hovering high above the dead city, and gazed at the horizon as they looked expectantly at the 'Radiant Dawn'.**

**Then they felt a pulse rush through them from every direction, with Aera stating.**

**{Hier kommt es} / (Here it comes)**

**The two held onto each other as a strong rush of wind came from all directions, followed shortly by massive waves of pure 'aether' that consisted of countless colors, sweeping through the skies and pulsing through the earth.**

**With this pulse, Aera and Argen began to not only sense, but 'see' events that played out in every other corner of the world.**

'**Aether Pulse' constructs, set up on every corner of the world of Remnant, including many larger constructs created high in the sky over the oceans released massive amounts of 'Aether' into the depths of the oceans, the darkest corner of the earth, and to the highest point in the sky.**

**With this release of raw 'aether' the entirety of Remnant now flowed with 'aether', the energy flowing in a radiant rainbow of colors across the whole planet, and to all who viewed it, a dazzling sight to behold …**

… **well, not all.**

**GRYAAAAAAAaaaahhh**

**GROOOAaaaahhh**

**RAAAAHHhhhh**

**CRICK-BRCK-CRCK**

**Then, in a resounding noise …**

**CRRRRUUUMMMMMBBBBLLLEEEE**

**Across the whole of Remnant, the Grimm, the enemy of all life, the embodiment of destruction, the unknown demons and the genocidal monsters that destroyed all life on the surface of Remnant and gained dominion over all of Remnant …**

… **DIED.**

**In the ruins and deserts of Vacuo, large piles of black material were blown out across the desert landscape, the ground erupting as a massive Blind Worm Grimm shot out of the Earth, screeching to the heavens for the last time as its body then hardened and crumbled to pieces on the ground.**

**In the capital of Mistral, Black material was strewn through the buildings as every species of Grimm in the continent tried to attack the constructs only to fall to the guarding Fae, the last being a monstrous horse/gremlin hybrid named the Nuckelavee that trotted in a slow and unsteady manor, its legs rapidly hardening until it could walk no longer, the horse hardening as the gremlin looked up once more to the sky at the Fae and the constructs as the hardening rapidly consumed its arms body and head, until the monstrous creature fully solidified with its red eyes simply going out like turning of a lamp, before it completely crumbled into powder on the ground.**

* * *

"It … it died, just like that, it just walked into Mistral … and died," Ren, who had a very bad history in regards to that particular Grimm, was left stunned that the beast that had killed his family and destroyed his home ended up dying in such an anticlimactic way.

"Well of course, the 'Aether' killed every Grimm on the planet, and regardless of what its fighting ability is or what it had done, it was still just a Grimm, and died just like all the others to," Mirai pointed out to Ren who was just left stunned at seeing his mortal enemy just simply died in such a hollow and empty way.

"Oh, and sorry if I end up rubbing salt into a wound here, but you and Nora end up having a revenge match with it in that reality and both died for your troubles, sorry," Mirai then said, causing shock to come over Ren and Nora at the thought of them both dying at the monstrous hands of the Grimm that destroyed the place they lived in.

* * *

**Atlas, the city of dreams that once hovered above the clouds above the old capital of Mantle, now lay shattered and ruined on top of the now devastated old capital, both shattered ruins with the entire Atlesian Air Fleet destroyed and wrecked around the dead city, now flooded with light as countless beasts of Grimm broke apart on the ground, with the bodies of winged-Beringel's smashing into and shattering against the ground, followed soon by an utterly titanic Grimm, one that was based on a humpback whale in form, and the direct cause of Atlas's fall, now breaking to pieces and falling from the sky, smashing straight into the ground and shattering apart, crumbling further until all that was left was a shattered husk.**

* * *

"Well, at least Atlas was avenged in the end, at least that's a good thing, right Wiess," Ruby said nervously to her Atlesian teammate, who had tears dripping from her eyes at the sight of her home completely destroyed and left a shattered ruin, yet held a vindictive happiness within at seeing the monster that performed the deed fall dead on the ground.

* * *

**Deep beneath the oceans, the 'Aether' flowed through the water, sinking to the darkest depths of the ocean, and in those depths, countless terrors of the deep now writhing and shattering in the darkness, from the swift and agile to the titanic and terrifying, all dunk back into the depths of the sea never to rise again.**

**The sky and the mountains offered not safety for the Grimm either, their bodies could only fly so high before they could go no farther, and soon the 'Aether' caught up to them, hardening their bodies and leaving nothing to large black sculptures to fall back to the surface, smashing to pieces on impact.**

**It was over in minutes, the Grimm were gone, never to walk the surface of Remnant again.**

**It was not yet over however, with both Aera and Argen knowing this to be the case.**

'**The beasts of Grimm are gone, the constructs of the Dark One have been forever erased from the world, which now leaves us with … them,' Aera thought, holding up another 'Aether' construct, this one opened into a floating screen before 'his' eyes, and on the screen appeared ten circles, the center being crimson/black, one dark red, the next black and grey, another emerald green, the next a mix of white/pink/brown, another being a dark brown with black streaks, then a red and black circle, and the last colored circle was a mix of black/crimson/orange, the last two were greyed out with black x's over the circles, showing that the individuals were deceased.**

**Argen looked at the screen, floating beside Aera as 'he' looked at the screen, and then spoke to 'him'.**

**{jetzt wissen wir, wo sie sind, und gingen ihnen nach} / (Now, we know where they are, and were going after them)**

**Aera looked at Argen and smiled with a firm resolve.**

**{Ja, jetzt wissen wir, wo sie sich verstecken, und jetzt können wir sie jagen} / (Yes, now we know where they are hiding, and now we can hunt them down)**

**On the screen, the circles then lined up, and beneath each was an image and name of an individual, in order.**

**Crimson/Black: Salem**

**Dark red: Adam Taurus**

**Black and Grey: Mercury Black**

**Emerald green: Emerald Sustrai **

**White/Pink/Brown: Neopolitan**

**Dark brown with black streaks: Hazel Rainart**

**Red and Black: Raven Branwen**

**Black/crimson/orange: Cinder Fall**

**Deceased**** – Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows**

**The screen widened to show the entirety of all of Remnant, and on the screen, the circles appeared on the screen showing the current locations of the individuals. Emerald and Mercury were in two separate parts of Anima, Adam Taurus was slinking around in the mountainous region of Solitas, Hazel was roaming the mountainous region of western Sanus, and shockingly to Aera and Argen, the heavier targets Neopolitan, Raven and Cinder were all in eastern Sanus where they were.**

**{Es sieht also so aus, als hätten wir die schwierige Aufgabe} / (So it looks like we have the hard task)**

**{Es scheint auf jeden Fall, dass Argen} / (It certainly seems that way Argen)**

**They screen zoomed in on eastern Sanus and showed the exact locations of the three targets.**

**Neopolitan was located in the ruins of the failed city in Mount Glenn, Raven was offshore on a small island that once used to be known as Patch, and as to Cinder Fall herself, she was also offshore in the northern-most part of Sanus on the island once called Vytal.**

**{So versteckt sich einer in den Trümmern eines vergangenen Scheiterns, ein anderer in der Vergangenheit, von dem sie weggelaufen ist, und die letzte in der Vergangenheit, die einst der Welt Hoffnung brachte, wie ironisch} / (So one is hiding in the ruins of a past failure, another in the past that she ran away from and the last in the past that once brought hope to the world, how ironic)**

**{Sie alle liefen vor dem, was sie taten, als sie tatsächlich erkannten, was die tatsächlich taten, und verstecken sich nun, um die Realität ihrer Handlungen zu leugnen.} / (They all ran from what they did when they actually realized what the actually did, and now are hiding away to deny the reality of their actions.)**

**Aera and Argen contemplated on what they knew of the targets so far, and their visages darkened significantly, now looking darkly at the three women they were to hunt down, and …**

… **terminate.**

* * *

"What, b-but those are people, killing people is bad, it is," Ruby stated.

"Why is my mother on that list, what did she do, I can understand that 'ice-cream' girl but what did my mom and the other girl do," Yang was left perplexed at all of this.

Meanwhile, Ozpin and Glynda looked at how the names of the individuals shown appeared linked to Salem, which left them with the rather dark conclusion that the individuals named on the list along with Salem were all associated with her.

This also led to the dark conclusion of why they would be marked for death, and even they saw it as understandable.

"If neither you nor Yang could get why the last non-Grimm based life forms that were on a list alongside the Grimm Queen herself would be seen as individuals who needed to not be alive anymore, this next part should tell you why," Mirai glared at the two, both nervous at Mirai's glare before she and they turned back to the screen.

* * *

**Argen spoke up first.**

**{Diese Menschen ekeln mich bis zum Kern meiner Existenz} / (These humans disgust me to the core of my very existence)**

**Aera agreed, feeling that these individuals deserved nothing but a long painful death for what they had done.**

**{Das Verbrechen, ihre eigene Art zu verraten und zum Aussterben ihrer ganzen Art beizutragen, verdient nichts weniger als den schmerzlichsten Tod, den man sich vorstellen kann.} / (Agreed, the crime of betraying their own species and helping to bring about the extinction of their whole species deserves nothing short of the most painful death imaginable.)**

**Argen and Aera were both fully aware of the sheer scope of the betrayal that everyone on the list had committed, a betrayal that aided in the total extinction of all human and faunas kind on all of Remnant.**

**These pe- no, these ****monsters****, monsters who wore the skin of humans and faunas, had directly aided in the death and destruction, had through their own actions helped bring about the extinction to all faunas and humans of Remnant.**

**They had destroyed everything, the killed everyone …**

**{Solche Monster weiterleben zu lassen, würde in Zukunft nur dazu dienen, schreckliches Chaos einzuladen, ihre Verbrechen sind einfach zu unersetzlich, wir müssen sie jagen, so wie sie selbst so viele andere gejagt haben.} / (To let such monsters continue to live, would only serve to either invite terrible chaos latter in the future, their crimes are simply to irredeemable, we must hunt them down just as they themselves hunted down so many others.)**

**{Ja, und jetzt haben sie nicht mehr die Konstrukte der Finsternis, um ihnen zu helfen, und die Auswirkungen des Lichts auf sie sollten dazu dienen, sie weiter zu schwächen und ihre Flucht zu verhindern.} / (Yes, and now they no longer have the constructs of darkness to aid them any longer, and the effects of the light on them should serve to further weaken them and prevent their escape.)**

**{Sie sind jetzt ganz allein, niemand wird ihre Hilfe kommen. Wir auf der anderen Seite ...} / (They are all alone now, nobody will come their aid. We on the other hand ...)**

**Aera and Argen soon looked to the sky, and a large shape soon took up their view of the sky, and both smirked at what came into view.**

**{... haben viele Freunde an unserer Seite.} / (... have many friends by our side.)**

**A ship, an airship, with a sloped hull that was angled and smooth, with an outer hull shell that was covered with a white metal frame that was sloped and angled with the armor at the ships front sloping down with three large towers on the angled section running along the spine of the ship, beneath the sloped armor, the ship was a mix of utilitarian and biomechanical, with the biological component consisting of multitudes of white roots that bore a striking resemblance to the white tree roots used by their 'mother', the roots flowing with power that ran through the angled and block structure made of the same dark reflective metal of the constructs they used. The ship had a loosely triangular shape, with the white metal of the hull sweeping forward in an elongated pyramid fashion before stopping at the bow, two long curved portions of the same metal running along the bottom of the ship running parallel to one another, and two more metal sections ran alongside the ship, covering two extended portions of the internal structure, with light radiating from the sections, which were the ships main propulsion units. On the outer hull of the ship were multitudes of what were turrets, which appeared to be long gun-barrels at a glance but were in fact long, large poles of the same wood as the roots that made up much of the ships frame, all in rotating turret housings and radiating with 'aether', with twelve such turrets on the bottom of the ship, ten on the top and five located around the propulsion structures, yet it was the front of he ship, where the internal structure opened into what would appear to be a giant gun barrel that was of particular note, with the roots within the 'gun' swirling around at the walls of the 'gun', pointing forward.**

**The ship was only slightly shorter than an Atlesian airship in size, but obviously followed a vastly different, almost alien, design philosophy, and it now hovered over the ruins of Vale, its bow pointed in the direction of Mount Glenn.**

**Aera then used her light to manipulate the construct and open a channel to ship, and the channel was established.**

**{Ah, Aera, Argen, es ist gut, euch beide zu sehen, seid bereit, die letzten Monster dieser Welt zu jagen.} / (Ah, Aera, Argen, it's good to see you both, are you ready to hunt down the last monsters of this world.)**

**{Wir sind Cryse, wir warteten nur darauf, dass du auftauchtst, was dich gehalten hat.} / (We are Cryse, we were just waiting for you to show up, what kept you.)**

**{Es tut uns leid, eine letzte Herde Grimm strotzte uns zu und wir haben uns mit ihnen auseinandergesetzt, jetzt sind wir hier, um mit den letzten gegenwärtigen Bedrohungen für diese Welt fertig zu werden.} / (Sorry about that, a final flock of Grimm ended up flying into us and we dealt with them, now we are here to deal with the last present threats to this world.)**

**{Nun gut, wir wissen, wo sie jetzt sind, also greifen wir sie direkt an, während Cryse und "seine" Crew sie davon abhalten, wegzukommen und ihnen zu helfen, sie einzusperren, oder werden wir sie alle auf einmal mit den 'Deimos' los.} / (All right, well we know where they are now, so do we attack them directly while Cryse and 'his' crew keep them from getting away and help box them in, or do we just get rid of them all at once with the 'Deimos'.)**

**Aera and Argen gazed at the bow of the ship, a strong amount of 'aether' flowing around the 'gun-barrel' of the weapon known as 'Deimos', which was designed specifically to counter massive Grimm hordes or a massive Grimm.**

**The weapons power was not in doubt, its power having been proven several times already yet using it against a single individual seemed to be overkill.**

**Yet knowing that the individuals in question had a direct hand in the death of all life on the planet minus themselves already spoke volumes of the evil these people were capable of.**

**Aera looked over the information of the three they had, and decided in but a moment, with Argen standing by her ready to accept whatever her decision was.**

**{Cryse, wir werden Cinder und Raven direkt mit ihrer Unterstützung konfrontieren, Neopolitanscheinte jedoch scheint nichts anderes als ein Vollstrecker der Gruppe zu sein, wahrscheinlich nur einige Muskeln, die sie mitgebracht haben, um beim Töten ihrer Feinde zu helfen, sie hat wahrscheinlich keine wirklichen Kenntnisse oder Informationen über die anderen oder irgendwelche Fallback-Pläne, die sie haben könnten. Sperre 'Deimos' an ihrem Standort und offenes Feuer.} / (Cryse, we will confront Cinder and Raven directly with your support, Neopolitan however appears to be nothing but an enforcer of the group, likely just some muscle they brought along to help with killing their enemies, she likely holds no real knowledge or information regarding the others or any fall back plans they may have. Lock 'Deimos' on her location and open fire.)**

**{Bestätigt Aera, 'Deimos' Vorbereitung zu feuern.} / (Confirmed Aera, 'Deimos' preparing to fire.)**

**Within the ship, multiple Fae ran or flew through the ship, moving along and working on the many parts of the ship, while in a chamber at the center of the ship, seven Fae in heavy clothes were around a mass of shifting material, and releasing their light into the material, which soon fused to the 'aether' that ran through the ship, and a sphere of the material appeared, warping and shifting slightly as 'aether' and light leaked out of the sphere in a chaotic mix, then the sphere was moved through many 'aether' rings running from the room, along the center of the ship straight to the 'Deimos', there the sphere was bombarded with multiple forms of Aether and further shaped by light from the Fae that manned the weapon, until it became diamond-shaped, pointing out of the barrel and straight at its target … **

… **the ruins of Mount Glenn.**

* * *

"Wow, okay that was, that really is um, I honestly am still trying to come to terms with the fact that humans would actually betray, much less kill their own people," Pyrrha said, now visibly shocked at finding out that humans and one faunas had actually helped the leader of the Grimm in the reality they saw kill all human and faunas kind.

Ruby was in worse shape, for once not able to make a retort on why killing is wrong when she heard that the people who were going to be killed, including Yang's mother, had actually helped the Grimm, the GRIMM, to destroy humanity and the Faunas, even the explanation of the weapon 'Deimos' which was one of her passions didn't mover her from the horror of what she had heard.

Yang now looked at the image of her mother with complete disgust, now knowing that not only had she walked out on her and her family, causing all of them heartache and pain, but now, knowing that in the reality that she saw, her mother actually helped the Grimm and destroyed human and faunas kind, she hoped she would never see that woman anytime soon, because if she did, she would not be held responsible for what she may do to her.

"Oh, looks like were gonna be seeing things from Neopolitans perspective for a bit," Mirai stated before she turned to the screen, the others as well.

* * *

**HRRRRRRKKKK**

**Neopolitan vomited out on the floor, spilling more materials onto the ground, and collapsing onto her hands and knees from the sheer, incomprehensible pain that wracked her body.**

**She grabbed onto a crate nearby and tried to steady herself, only trip and pull the crate down, the crate spilling over to reveal several containers of dust-bullets and explosives …**

… **none of which were useable as the dust inside the bullets and explosives had completely blackened and broke down in the bullets and explosives, rendering all of the ammo and explosives useless.**

**Neo got her hand on the table next to her, her body in agony as she lifted herself, her once fancy clothes now a patchwork of cloths and rags that she stitched to her clothes to hold her outfit together, and it was not only her outfit that was in disrepair.**

**Neo herself was a terrible condition, her hair color was fading rapidly, becoming just white and grey, with the brown and pink having faded a long while ago, the girls arms had many sores and injuries that seemed to open up at random, and her face was worse.**

**Her eyes seemed to be sparking slightly, her irises fading to a dull white, which showed that she was at the cusp of losing her sight as well as her voice, many sores and purple veins lined her once young face and her skin was a sickly white color as she gritted her teeth and fought through the pain as her Aura came up and triad to help her …**

… **instead it broke and fissured as 'Aether' infused itself into her Aura, causing it to break and fissure, causing deep rents and cuts to appear on Neo's body, and forced her to shut her Aura down.**

* * *

Silence took hold as they witnessed what the 'aether' did to an persons Aura, which they all saw as the light of the soul that protected a person, now seeing it be used against a person (even a monster like Neopolitan) left them all quite disturbed, and all looked to Mirai with looks that demanded answers.

"The energy that the Fae use, their light and 'aether', it can be weaved into a complex form of itself, which would be known as a 'spell', which forms the basis of what their 'magic' is, and in this case, the effects of the 'Aether' used by the construct were basically 'Damage and Ruin to foreign power', and the only foreign power left in that reality were the beasts of Grimm and the traitor of all life, so it really was not a hard decision to use that power, though later on, when we view this world once more, we will be seeing that the power of the Fae is far more substantial and powerful than you can believe," Mirai turned to look at the viewing as it continued, the crowd also looking as they accepted the explanation, for now.

* * *

**Neo managed to get herself on the table, and looked at what she had been preparing, having scrounged what ruins she could, what little she could find …**

… **all to kill her.**

**The map was a close-up of the island of Vytal, and marked with a red X was what used to be an Atlesian fortress, the sight of a battle against the Grimm, one that ended in complete failure, a failure she helped to bring about.**

**Neo shook her head, she already knew, she had done things that were beyond monstrous, things that would and should never be forgiven or forgotten, she killed uncountable people, aided in destroying the defenses of the kingdoms and the death of countless who tried to protect the lives of countless innocents, all of whom now lay dead, because of what she had done.**

'**Why, why did I ever listen to that bitch, was I really that stupid to have believed anything she said,' Neo thought aloud, hating herself for having believed a word of what the bitch she had not only listened to, but followed, said.**

**She had followed her, entirely focused on killing the person that took her most important person, who took Roman away from her, the wannabe 'hero' Ruby Rose, and how she ended up following along with Cinder's and then Salem's plans in her desire for vengeance.**

**Then, when she had succeeded, when she felt she had gotten her vengeance and was destroying the last defense made by humanity, Ruby Rose used managed to her the truth, having found a video recording from the fall of Beacon, from an observation camera from Ironwoods airship.**

**Neo was left hollow and empty when she saw Roman was beating down Ruby Rose, while ranting allowed about being a survivor … only for a Griffon to devour him, leaving only his hat to flutter away in the wind, and Ruby trying to kill the Griffon, only for another to attack her, while the other Griffon, Romans true killer, just flew away.**

"_**I tried, ugh-hrk, I really tried to save him, I , I'm sorrrruuuugghh."**_

**Those were the last words spoken by Ruby Rose, and instantly she actually looked back on every single thing she had done, and who had actually benefited from it happening.**

**Then she came …**

"_**Hmm, shame you had to see that, but I guess all good things must end," **_**Neo looked back, gazing at Cinder Fall, hair shorter and an eye patch over her left eye, and the same sadistic smirk on her face, and then Neo was slammed into the far wall as a powerful gale of wind erupted in the room, and looked up to see Cinder's right a light up with an orange flame, **_**"though before send you away, allow me to give you my thanks, for getting rid of the only real threat to my mistress, and the one who dared to scar me …"**_

**A fireball was then lit in her right hand.**

"… _**and now … GOODBYE."**_

**A blast of fire erupted from the room, incinerating Ruby's body and blasting Neo out of the room, and falling to the depths below, barely surviving thanks to her weapon, which was left broken after barely surviving the fight against the Grimm as they stormed the last bastion of human and faunas kind.**

**After that, she was left a wreck, the world was gone, Grimm now ruled the surface, and she was left with nothing, nothing but the knowledge that she had been used, and that she had led to a world that was now infinitely worse than the world she had come from.**

**She decided, she knew she would die, probably sooner rather than later given how the world was, she made countless mistakes and had now been left in a hell of her own creation from all those mistakes, she would hunt down Cinder, she would use whatever means to at least kill that bitch and send her to hell, only then would she end her own life.**

**So she gathered all she could, searched everywhere, trying to find Cinder, and ended up finding out that whoever her mistress was, apparently had removed Cinder from her services, and that all of her associates were now in the wind, all having gone their own separate ways, no longer needed by whoever Cinder's boss, the monstrous Grimm Queen, Salem.**

**Neo actually smirked when she learned that Cinder had been thrown away just like she had been, continuously hunting her any way she could, until Neo found Cinder's hideout, the Atlesian fortress that Neo had conquered with her, another mistake Neo had to live with.**

**She had been preparing to go there, taking all the weapons and explosives she had scrounged up from wherever she could …**

… **then the strange light flooded her hideout, broke her weapons, shut down all of the power in her hideout, and left her crippled and in agony on the floor.**

**She made her way to the patio of the apartment she had been hiding in, and looked outside with her barely functioning eyes, somehow able to make out the lights that now took up the horizon … **

… **and a large shape in the sky, a ship, one that was still extremely far away, but bore no resemblance to the ships she knew, yet appeared to be roughly the size of an Atlesian cruiser.**

**SKOOOOM**

**A sharp glint of light and a loud blast were her only warning as she saw the bow of the ship fire, at her.**

**The projectile flew straight at her, and in her last moments, actually flashed back to her whole life, with Roman taking up most of her view as the projectile detonated, releasing an explosion of proportions not possible by any weapon known to Remnant.**

**Her body, the buildings a kilometer from the center of the explosion, and everything in that distance …**

… **were completely vaporized.**

**The next time Neo woke up, she was falling to a dark hole with a dark red light coming from it.**

'**Yep, hell,' Neo fell to the pit, and soon slammed into the surface of the pit, countless hands swathed in darkness and burning like magma grabbed her body and pulled her down into the depths of hell.**

**Neo made no effort at resisting, knowing that there was nothing left anymore, her last thoughts being of Roman as her head sunk into the darkness, strangely content with her fate, knowing deep down that whoever erased her from existence …**

… **would be going after Cinder next.**

* * *

The group were left with some very, mixed feelings at the fate and path of Neopolitan.

Ruby was torn, on one hand she was deeply upset that the girl had killed her, and had destroyed and murdered so many for what turned out to be a lie, on the other, she had been driven by the loss of the only person she cared for, which Ruby (such a kind soul) couldn't help but sympathize with her.

No such feelings were felt from the others of her team or NPR, especially Yang, who wished that she could have been the one to murder the little imp that had killed her sister in the reality she saw, and she honestly would have felt no regrets if she could performed the deed.

Ozpin and Glynda noted the power Cinder Fall showed, and both immediately knew who the culprit was in an incident that they had been pondering for a long while.

"We only have a tiny amount left, we will be done shortly, also hell is real," Mirai told the group as the last of the viewing played.

* * *

**A strong gust of wind blew by Aera and Argen as they witnessed the titanic explosion coming from what was one Mount Glenn, most of the top of the mountain completely blasted apart as a massive cloud rose into the sky, taking on a shape that resembled a mushroom at a glance, with 'Aether' and light surging through the cloud as the cloud soon reached over a few kilometers into the sky.**

**{Auf Wiedersehen Mord von Millionen, mögen Sie wahre Strafe für Ihre Verbrechen in den Tiefen der Hölle zu finden.} / (Goodbye murder of millions, may you find true punishment for your crimes in the depths of hell.)**

**Aera spoke, viewing the cloud and knowing that one of the betrayers against her whole species was now dead, and would never come back.**

**Argen nodded, also feeling that the death of a true traitor was for the best, for those who had passed, for the souls seeking retribution, and for those who currently lived.**

**Aera and Argen began to fly up, heading to the ship, which itself had turned, preparing to head for its next target, as the two soon flew alongside as the ship slowly left the city of Vale behind, heading to the island offshore …**

… **Patch.**

**{Raven kommen wir für dich, und im Gegensatz zu deinen vergangenen Schlachten hast du keinen Ausweg, du defätistischer Feigling.} / (Raven we are coming for you, and unlike your past battles, you don't have a way out, you defeatist coward.)**

* * *

The viewing ended, and a timer appeared, showing twelve hours until the next viewing.

"That's the end of this viewing, and it was longer than I thought it would be, and as I promised, I said that I would show you a mural from that reality, one that will show both the age of the civilization and its destruction," a holo-screen appeared and the crowd looked at the screen, ready to see what had happened to the Fae civilization, Ozpin taking a sip of some particularly good coffee, and then Mirai showed the mural, "this is how their civilization ended."

PFFFFFFFFFFFFSSS

Ozpin, for once in only a small number of times, spit out his coffee in pure shock at what he saw, shocked beyond words, the action catching everyone off-guard, and Glynda herself was a bit shocked, but was more shocked at the mural, showing something that left her feeling both worried and conflicted.

The Mural showed many Fae in ancient armor and wielding multiple weapons of the old era, from swords to crossbows, and some holding long staves with their 'magic' coming out of them, all attacking the source of a great fire, one that was consuming a city surrounded by a forest, and incinerating the land, leaving death and destruction in its wake, and the source of this terrible flame was a dragon …

… a dark purple dragon with a skull-like head, twisting horns, small dark purple points for eyes, and the body of a western dragon, four limbs, two large wings and a long spiked tail, flying through the sky and raining death and destruction in its wake. Behind the purple dragon was another dragon, this one was gold and white, with long antler-like horns, eyes shining pure white light, and a long serpentine body with four small limbs and no wings, which was releasing light on the ground and causing plants to grow and animals to flourish, all while erasing the now destroyed Fae cities and breaking down the weapons and bodies, all but erasing the Fae from existence, like they were never even there.

The group stared in stunned silence at the mural, showing two dragons destroying and erasing the Fae from the world, and it was Ruby that popped the question.

"What are they?"

"He-hehehehe, hehehehe, HEHEHEHEHEHEHE-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhaha, haaa," the whole group was startled by Mirai's outburst, hearing her life in an almost hysterical manner as she stared at the group, and then looked at the group and simply stated an answer that stunned them all and shocked Ozpin and Glynda.

"The true gods of Remnant, the ones that, by the lore of your reality, created your world, and more importantly …"

"… created you, **all**of you, including me."

The group were left shocked by Mirai's words, her completely serios tone left so little room for argument, also they knew that she knew of their reality from what they saw, and thus could not find it in them to say something disprove her words.

Then a small note popped up on Weiss's lap from her Transmission Array, and she picked it up and had instructions with a single line, and she gulped down as she stated what it said.

"Th-that's impossible, a-and you know it."

The group turned to her, staring with incredulity at her words, causing the heiress to almost visibly shrink into her seat, face red with embarrassment.

"I am so, so sorry to have to put you through that Weiss, but I wanted that line brought up so I could deliver the following counter, but I never wanted it to be as awkward as that got, but since you said it I may as well finish," Mirai cleared her throat and then spoke her counter.

"It is not impossible, and he knows it, again sorry Weiss."

The group all knew that Mirai was holding her hand to Ozpin, and were strangely not as surprised as they should have been that Ozpin knew what the two dragons were, and it was Ozpin who spoke next, this time contemplating his coffee as he spoke.

"Mirai, how much of what we saw was, relevant to our reality," Ozpin stated.

"Cinder Fall and her associates Mercury and Emerald all exist in your reality, and they are responsible for the fate of the individual you are thinking about, Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows and Hazel Rainart are all working for you already now who, the you know who being the 'seemingly' immortal Grimm Queen, Salem, the supposed creator and leader of the Grimm, which we both know is a load of some very crass things all at once, and her plans center on four very distinct objects, all residing beneath the four academies in very special vaults that need four specific some ones to open, I have far more knowledge but I will stop at that for now," Mirai sated, and Ozpin just took a sip of the coffee, accepting the explanation, but had a bit of a haggard look.

"I am not trying to make things harder for you, whether you believe it or not, my position here was one I made after so many long and arduous hardships, especially given some of the abilities and powers I picked up along the way, two of which have allowed me to at least understand the suffering you and others like you suffer, one I gained in my travels, the other the result of a curse not of divine origin, and both have made things hard, but I have so far managed, so far at least," Mirai said sadly, suddenly having a very haggard on expression on her face, a sullen look in her eyes as she recalled some very unpleasant memories.

"Haah, I know when not to pry, and past experiences have allowed me to have a more open mind, all I ask right now is to see the … 'episodes' surrounding our reality, though I believe I have no right to stop others if they wish to see," Ozpin asked Mirai, who could only nod solemnly at his question.

"The truth is that I only act as the overseer of this room and your accommodations, access to any information and items is determined by the facilities intelligence and the overseeing administrator, who hold final say in all of primary functions of this facility. So, if the others wish to see something and the intelligence and administration approves, their gonna see it, read it, paly it, whatever, and I am afraid that includes the 'source' of your reality."

Ozpin could only sigh as he heard this, already knowing that his students would likely want to see the 'source' of their reality, which would also likely show some of if nor all of the secrets he had been keeping would be revealed, and he knew he had no real way to dissuade them, though it looked like they were going to ask anyway.

"Hey, that person, the Grimm Queen, is she in our reality, do the Grimm actually have a leader," Wiess was left quite disturbed by what she saw, the knowledge of the Grimm having a sentient leader worried her tremendously.

"She is and they do, her name is Salem and she not only has a form of control of the Grimm, but as you may have guessed, she also has human and faunas collaborators that work for her for reasons ranging from vain, stupid, sadistic and other such reasons, and the individuals you witnessed from the last viewing, specifically Cinder, Emerald, Mercury, Hazel, Arthur and Tyrian, in the prime realities and those mirroring the prime reality, the all exist and work for Salem, though there are other realities where others are collaborate with her, but they are few and far in between, and the reality you hail from is one that was running through the same events as the prime reality, so the individuals and their factional loyalties should all be the same," Mirai stated to them, Wiess nodding in understanding.

"I didn't get to ask, but about the Fae's weapons, what exactly are they," Ruby said in a shockingly subdued manner, which was understandable since she had to see her own death, suffer a moral quandary, and deal with the confusing gender designations of a 'uni-gender' species.

"Well, I am sorry to say that there is not really much to say, other than the fact that Fae armaments are essentially channeling devices for a Fae's power, and usually come in the form of a close to mid-range weapon, like swords, spears and halberds, with only few being true long range weapons like a bow, crossbow and sometimes a gun since Fae can use ranged 'spells' for long range attacks, which largely eliminates that need for a ranged armament, the can even channel powerful 'spells' into their weapons to make powerful ranged attacks, but all this is due to the strong flow of Fae light or 'Aether' that they use in their weapons, so unless you have a means of turning Aura into a force similar to Fae light or 'Aether' such weapons can neither be made or even conceived," Mirai pointed out to Ruby, who was a bit saddened by the news, but at least tried to cheer herself up with the ideas she could come up with regarding the weapons power channeling abilities.

Anyone else still need to say something, any thing at all, if not you can all go to the dormitories which are all ready for your use, and the recreation center for those looking for entertainment or workout, including a combat simulator similar to but far more advanced than what you have at either Beacon or even on remnant, including a system that can simulate the beasts of Grimm and the environments they live in, though nothing above titan-class I'm afraid, at least not yet," Mirai stated, the group nodding, and they began to make their way to the rooms …

… except for one, who stayed behind.

"Yang, I assume that you wish to speak regarding a certain individual, one who has earned both my ire and hatred through her actions," Mirai stated with unhidden anger.

Yang clenched her fists as she was about ready to talk about an extremely hard subject, the others noticing and stopping to see, with Ruby approaching closer.

"You want to know about her, about your blood related mother, even though you can just watch the prime reality version of her, which should tell you everything you need to know, so why come to me," Mirai stated to Yang, who had a frustrated expression on her face.

"I want to … to know from you about her, what is she like, what is she really like, I do want to see I for myself, but I don't want it fed to me slow or be made to just figure out myself, I want to know the truth in it unbiased and real form, so … so … please, tell me," Yang forced the words out, which actually shocked the group that Yang would do something so unlike her, but she seemed desperate.

Mirai stood looking at Yang, Yang having a powerful resolve in her eyes.

Then held up a paper in front of her eyes, which had a drawn image of Raven Branwen on it, "here's the truth about you mother."

Yang looked at the paper, with Ruby, Blake, Wiess, Pyrrha, Nora and ren also looking at it, their eyes widening at what they read.

"WANTED, Raven Branwen, wanted for the following crimes - murder, armed robbery, multiple huntsman deaths, destruction of multiple villages, causing large scale Grimm incursions in outlying communities, WARNING, suspect extremely dangerous, currently acting leader of large scale bandit operation known as 'Branwen Bandit Tribe', report any information on subject to local authorities, all persons advised not to attack individual, report information to local authorities or huntsmen, REWARD, Dead or Alive – 500,000 Lien," Wiess read off the wanted poster for Yang's mother, shocked at the number of crimes she had committed, how dangerous she was and the shockingly high bounty on her head.

Yang and the group were left shocked at what they had just read, Mirai setting the paper down, before looking at Yang straight in the eye.

"Everything your father has told you regarding your mother, only the talk of her combat prowess was true, the things about her being a complicated individual, being strong willed and having powerful morals, all lies. Your mother is the leader of a bunch of violent criminals and believes in the warped ideal of the strong feeding on the weak to survive, and that attacking small peaceful communities shows that she is strong, and also in times were there is an actual threat, like a huntsman, she sends her bandits in first to distract them so she can sneak attack them when their to busy protecting the lives of the people they are paid or are trying to protect, essentially never truly facing her opponent and using tricks and lies to win her battles just to present the least amount of risk to herself even though she is strong enough to not need to do such things but does so anyway. That is who she is, she's a murder and a liar who leads murders and liars, robs from those who were only trying to live their lives or threatens them to give her their resources while calling it pay for 'protecting' them, the second the situation gets even a little bit too hard for her tribe, she outright abandons the towns she 'protects' to the fate of being slaughtered by either Grimm or other bandit groups when they either aren't able to provide her bandit group with supplies or when she just decides that they aren't worth her time anymore, and then there is what she did for the sake of giving her group of bandits an edge and to further sate her own inflated ego, she found and took in a girl, no more then ten years of age from a ruined settlement, one that was destroyed by that little girl from her trying to protect herself from another bandit tribe, using magic."

The group were left stunned by this fact, but Mirai pointed to Ozpin, and they saw him holding his mug in a death grip enough to crack it, and his knuckles going white as Mirai then dropped the bomb, screen showing multiple scenes from the prime reality to back her claim, "you heard it here first, magic is real, the legend of the seasonal maidens was based on the existence of four young women on Remnant who wield actual magic, magic that is passed along through the very inefficient and easily corruptible method of the magic going to the last person the maiden has in their thought before the die, with the only real factor being that the person must be female and that's it, not morally good, not of excellent character, just female. The maiden Raven found was the Spring Maiden, who she then took in and decided to raise to be another murderous thug among her band of murderous thugs, but the girl was not like that, and would likely never be like that, which Raven in her warped mind took as a sign of weakness, even as she raised and nurtured her like she should have raised and nurtured her actual daughter," Mirai looked to Yang, who had a very angered and furious look on her face at her learning who her mother was, which overrode the surprise of learning that magic was actually real.

"Though in that regard, I guess its good she didn't raise you Yang, since you may have met with a similar end to the young maiden," the looks of stunned silence from the group made it clear that they understood what she meant by end, and the thought horrified them, "yes, your looks of silent horror are exactly what I expected, when Raven realized she couldn't get what she wanted the maiden alive, she took her time making the girl see her as the most important thing in her life, and then Raven **killed** her, and the Spring Maidens power went right into her, all because the girl couldn't be a monster, monster like **her**!"

Mirai was huffing in anger, her rage clear and anger palpable as she then breathed as deeply as she could before sighing loudly, and then said, "there is one last thing, one major thing in particular that makes Raven Branwen one of the most loathed and hated individuals that I have ever encountered, and the core reason behind all her lies, excuses, actions and warped beliefs, the one thing she hides beneath all her gained or stolen power, and is the one thing that should have been obvious given that she is a bandit and thief."

"Raven Branwen, has been and is still, a coward, worst a defeatist coward, in spite all of her skill, all her strength and ability, the very moment she so much as thinks a battle is against her and a fight is not worth it, she's the first one to call it quits, when she is before a situation and does not know a way to truly make in go in her favor, she bolts right then and there, and even though she continuously preaches about being the strongest and being number one, the second she thinks her odds are actually in doubt or she cant salvage a situation, no matter who is with her, even her 'so-called' family, she will abandon them where they are while blaming them for being the weak ones. That's why she left you Yang, not because she couldn't have raised you, not because of some cheap 'noble goal' or even because of her own warped ideals, she left because the moment she was confronted with a life that could have actually given her real happiness and fulfilment, something that could have actually made her a better person overall, she automatically decided she didn't want that, left Yang almost a birth with her father, and bolted back to the life she always knew, the life of a the lowest of the low, those who steal and abuse those weaker than themselves so they can fell strong, the life of a lying, murderous, bandit who even now still lies to herself with her own warped ideals and plunders the livelihoods of small villages and communities that want to live their own lives away from the governance of the kingdoms and instead have to deal with life stealing monster like Raven and her murder gang, and this time I can say that with absolute assurance that this is the truth …"

"… and **he** knows it."

Mirai pointed her finger straight to a gateway opening behind them … revealing.

"Uncle Qrow!"

"Winter!"

"Ironwood"

"Wiess"

"Hey … munchkin."

"Ozpin, Glynda"

The gathered individuals exchanged greetings, with Ruby and Yang noting that their Uncle had a very solemn look, Ironwood was cordial with Glynda and Ozpin but gave Qrow a sad look, and for once Winter was mostly focusing on Wiess and not exchanging the usual sharp barb with Qrow which Ozpin and Glynda noted was odd considering the two.

"They heard everything I was saying, everything regarding Raven Branwen, something that mister Branwen likely wanted to keep unsaid for as long as he possibly could, and apologies for saying those things regarding your sister Qrow Branwen, but we just got through seeing a reality where your sister helped to destroy human and faunas kind, so excuse me if there are no kind feelings for her here at the moment, or ever," Mirai stated bluntly to Qrow, who could only sigh at what her heard, subtly saying "Dang it Rae".

"Anyway, I believe you got a brief overview before you came here, and I know you don't have personal experience with the individual who is at the heart of this matter, but at the most I can say that something happened to your reality, with said individual, an individual named Jaune Arc, yep there is the recoil from knowing but you guys are coming out of it so okay, currently Jaune is at the heart of whatever happened to your reality but he's not the cause I can assure you of that," Mirai assured them, especially those she knew had a more paranoid side, "also he isn't here so you couldn't really do anything to him anyway, in fact finding out what happened by viewing the realities linked to the Jaune Arc of your reality, and your reality by extension which are causing whatever is happening in your reality, also my name is Mirai and I am the one who is overseeing the viewings to try and get everyone here and likely others back to your reality."

"You mean to tell me that a single individual is somehow the reason or part of the reason why we are here in this place," Ironwood asked Mirai, who nodded at his basic explanation, "and to get back to Remnant, we have to see these 'realities' in order to return, is this correct."

"That is it in its most basic terms, but yes Ironwood, and no Winter I will not call him General or refer to him by his rank since as you have already seen, there is no Atlas here nor is there any Atlesian presence, and this is also a completely separate reality, so Ironwoods title as General of the Atlesian military nor his position as headmaster of Atlas Academy have any form of sway or meaning here, but I know the habit of referencing his title is not going to go anytime soon, so for now I will differ to his title as well, is that alright, general," Mirai stated to Ironwood as he thought about the confusion caused by use of his title.

"Actually, I do believe there is a point to be made, my title could cause some confusion if taken out of context here, and you are correct, there is neither an Atlas or an Atlesian presence in this place, so until the time where we have returned to Remnant and by extension Atlas, I believe my title as General will be put on hold until we are able to return, so you are allowed to refer to me as Ironwood, Miss Mirai," Ironwood stated, a stunned Winter looking on at Ironwood's acceptance at allowing himself to be called in an un-professional manor.

"Fair enough, I shall refer to you by your last name or full name as the situation changes, but for now the viewings are on hold for at least eleven and a half hours, so you can rest, sleep, enjoy recreation, read, watch something from the digital media system, or, as I am sure your planning on doing, talk about some things that may be quite a bit uncomfortable to talk about, until then I will excuse myself to look over the viewing system and inform you of anything that may come up through the communication relay, right now I will catch our guests up on what has already passed and you can speak to them after, beyond that, enjoy your accommodations here," Mirai finished before guiding the three new arrivals to the chairs so she could begin talking to them, though Qrow still looked at Yang and Ruby, who had gazes that demanded explanations that he was very uncomfortable with saying, while Winter looked at Wiess and wished to speak to her but would hold off until after everything was explained, while Ironwood noted that Ozpin and Glynda had a critical look in their eyes as they looked at him, and Mirai stated she would explain why later on.

Those who had already arrived went to their the dormitory rooms that were designated by hologram pathways leading to their respective rooms, and Mirai sat with Ironwood, Winter and Qrow as hologram panels appeared behind her, explaining and showing them what had been seen so far.

The viewings had been done for the current time …

… yet there was always the possibility of truly unexpected 'events' occurring …

… especially those that no one ever expects.

* * *

**Aeos React here, **

**First off, OMG this chapter was likely my longest one yet, I honestly did not expect it to be this long, but as I kept writing, it became harder to round out the ending, and by the time I finally made the end of the chapter, BAM a chapter big enough to be a short story, I will try to write less next time, but I make no promises.**

**Second, I know a lot of you are either perplexed or confused by my focus on the character in the viewings being either female, female form or something of the sort, I have put an explanation as to why this occurs within this chapter, but other reasons include trying to stand out from other multiverse writers who, lets face it, have already done to death Jaune Arc in their writings, so I decided to be both unorthodox and challenge myself to make compelling writing with this alteration, and personally, yeah I have gotten a bit tired of the same old male protagonist writing that currently takes up not only Fanfiction works, but mainstream works as well, and I am trying to go against the grain in my own personal way, I have nothing against Jaune as a man, but he has been used to death in so many works, I just wanted to try something new.**

**Three is what inspired the 'viewing' in this current chapter, and honestly it was a bit of a mixed bag that I used, with one part you will recognize where I got it from if the music used wasn't a big enough hint, the rest was mix of my own ideas and some elements from an anime with a long title about fairy-like creatures called leprechauns fighting monsters with ancient weapon that has some light Lovecraftian undertone to it, and that's about as much as I can say, if any of you recognize something that could have been from a work you know, know that I didn't know at the time so I apologize for that.**

**Hope you keep reading, enjoy it, and I will see you all in the next one.**


	6. Interlude

Chapter 5 -RESPITE/RETORT I, Unveiled Secrets, Realizations and Retrospect

The groups of RWBY and NPR were within the assigned dormitory, one that was a mix of being incredibly homey and immensely futuristic, with the system able to seamlessly re-orient itself to give each member their own room, or combine the rooms with one another, able to do so even when the occupant is in the room, shifting so seamlessly around the occupant that the individual didn't even feel that they were moving and beyond the wind made from the shifting materials, nothing else really occurred and except the room had changed and they had been standing in the middle of the change as it happened. The two teams had their spirits lifted from what had occurred as they saw there accommodations that were made in such a way that they could honestly say it was the room they dreamed off, and finding out they could merge the rooms, and even experienced the re-orienting system while they stood in the center of their rooms and finding themselves in a seamlessly fused room that perfectly spaced their own areas out while giving them excellent amounts of space in between had left them awed beyond words, the whole system done by the facilities intelligence, though it made them aware that it wouldn't listen to conflicting, repeated, rhetorical, outright stupid, or any request of a similar type, noting a massive number of incidents that occurred before that led to a monstrous amount of problems, even fatalities due to severe system failures.

Team RWBY and NPR then asked the intelligence that they wanted to see the 'source' of their reality, something that all of them were quite uncomfortable yet interested with, and the facility just re-oriented the room into a theater like structure, the room made to allow them to sit, lay or recline comfortably as they viewed the 'source' of their reality, the (as of yet unfinished) animated world of RWBY.

They watched, seeing the entirety of their time at Beacon Academy, the gripes of being a teenager and the duty of becoming a huntsman, going through initiation, and seeing the Jaune Arc of the prime reality, who not only successfully went through initiation, but had brought Pyrrha, Nora and Ren together to defeat an Ancient Deathstalker, though team RWBY saw their takedown of the Nevermore as being cooler, they agreed what Jaune did with the soon named team JNPR impressive. Then it continued, showing how things had been rocky at first due to Wiess having problems with Ruby being leader, then when Jaune revealed his transcripts were fake to Pyrrha and showed she still wished to help him, then Jaune being blackmailed by Cardin Winchester only to save his life with some help from Pyrrha and gaining Cardin's respect. Then came Blake running away, the rest of RWBY chasing her, Blake getting involved with a White Fang raid led by Roman Torchwick, Blake and another faunas named Sun Wukong fighting against the White Fang and Torchwick with Ruby and another girl named Penny Polendina joining the battle, the end of the fight, reunion of team RWBY, and the reveal of Cinder Fall and her lackeys for better words.

Then came their second semester at Beacon, starting with the food fight that they all remembered quite well, though the group were left perplexed with a response from a hologram that singled out how Yang had been sent hurtling through the roof and hadn't come down for half a minute, meaning that she likely hit the edge of the atmosphere before coming down, the facility using this to point out how if Yang's Aura could take her falling from the atmosphere and walk away like it was nothing, then a steep fall off a building or a cliff should be nothing for any Aura empowered individual, which left the group with a lot to think about in that regard. Then came when they all split up to find out what the White Fang had been planning, which lead to a battle with Roman Torchwick in a stolen Atlesian Paladin prototype followed by his rescue by Neopolitan. The mission to Mount Glenn, discovering the White Fang and the events of the Breach, which was about what they remembered happened before things started getting fuzzy, though now they knew it was Cinder who was the real mastermind, hoping that if they get back to their reality, they would make sure to stop her plan, which they would see soon.

Suffice to say, what they saw would start to wear on any determination they may have felt, soon replaced by shock, horror …

… and sadness.

They saw the scenes play by what they last recalled, Ruby visiting her mother's grave, the dance at Beacon Academy, Ruby fighting the intruder who she now knew was Cinder inside the CCT tower, the start of the Vytal Festival tournament, their victory in the tournament, but after that was a blur to them all, and now they would know. It started optimistic and a bit silly in the beginning, the victory of team JNPR in their round of the Vytal festival, the odd moments where they were out and about, the arrival of Winter and Qrow to Beacon, and then it began to become dark and serious, with the reveal that Ozpin, Glynda, Ironwood and Qrow were part of a secret group that was trying to keep the peace on Remnant and were against what they now knew as Cinder and more specifically the person that they learned from Mirai, was Cinder's boss and the real threat, Grimm Queen Salem. Then it showed Cinder making her moves, rigging certain matches in the tournament, framing Yang using her lackeys Mercury and Emerald, with Mercury faking having his leg broken after Emerald used her illusory power to make Yang attack him, as well as seeing their attack against the Summer maiden, beating her down and using a Grimm created by Salem to steal the magic from her body, only getting part of the Summer maidens power before Qrow showed up and disrupted their attempt, and finding out that their plan was to cause a Grimm invasion in Vale and get the rest of the Fall maidens power.

Pyrrha was hit hard at seeing the version of herself suddenly made aware of the fact that the people she placed her trust into had so many secrets that they were now trusting her with keeping and a duty she was being made to bear, that and her teams words didn't help, though it was forgivable since none of them knew what she had been made aware of and the secrets she learned (though Ren and Nora sill apologized to their Pyrrha, who told them to not take it too hard and that themselves in the reality they saw didn't know what she had seen), then events took a darker turn with Ruby confronting Mercury (who they now knew had prosthetic legs), and Pyrrha being set up by Cinder to fight Penny Polendina (who they also now knew was a gynoid, the facility intelligence clarifying what she was) which given Pyrrha's semblance could only lead to something bad happening …

… what happened was horrific.

Pyrrha held her hands to her mouth, eyes wide in horror as she saw her other self, fooled by another of Emeralds illusions, unleashed her power on the gynoid girl, tearing her apart with her own weapons, revealing her as a machine and leaving Ruby to look on in horror while Mercury smiled and walked away to let Ruby wallow in despair (Yang decided then and there that she would hunt down the asshole and murder him, Blake, Wiess and even Nora were behind her, while Ruby couldn't make a response against it due to seeing a friend of hers be killed and one of the people responsible smiling at such a thing). The situation went straight downhill, Cinder sowing discord through her actions causing a Grimm invasion, Atlas trying to help, the White Fang invading the city using Grimm to directly attack Beacon, Torchwick escaping with Neopolitans help (after she had massacred the entire crew of an Atlesian warship, which showed just how dangerous Neo was, as well as how ill-equipped regular people, even military trained ones, were with fighting huntsman level opponents) and taking over the warship, unleashing a virus that caused the Atlas mechanized forces to fire at everyone except the Grimm and White Fang, the awakening of the Wyvern Grimm, all leading up to the terrible conclusion.

Yang losing her arm in a single stroke from Adam Taurus, the death of the Fall maiden and Ozpin by the fully empowered Cinder Fall with neither Pyrrha or Jaune able to do anything, the destruction of the CCT tower, the complete collapse of Beacon Academy, but most of all …

… was the death of Pyrrha by Cinder Falls hands, burned to nothing by the murderous false maiden, with Ruby seeing it happen, and then suddenly unleashing a burst of silver tinged light, which swallowed up both Cinder and the Wyvern (with the intelligence revealing the history of the Silver-eyed warriors and their power to destroy Grimm, though only Grimm).

The audience watched with stunned horror and ill feelings as the death of one of their closest friends was snuffed out by a mad woman with a desire for power, Pyrrha taking it the worst as she almost felt her death and was internally furious at Cinder Fall for ending her life.

Then came after, showing the breakup of team RWBY, Yang having lost her arm and now lying in her room from her experience and Blake's sudden departure, Blake having shown her worst trait again by running from her team to try and take her problem with her (which the facility intelligence noted was stupid as her issues depended on Adam Taurus's decisions, in which he could have attacked Patch if he so choses just to spite her, Blake unable to make a retort as she knew that the intelligence was right), Wiess being taken back to Atlas by her family, a family that she was not happy to be with.

Then it showed Ruby deciding to go on a journey along with the remained of team JN_R, to find out what she could about Cinder and try to stop whatever she had planned, not knowing that Cinder was just another lackey to an even more terrifying boss, going on her journey with her Uncle Qrow looking over her, literally (when she learned that her uncle and Raven could turn into birds, a crow and raven respectively, she was floored by it until she was shown a later view of Qrow transforming).

Then came the journey of Ruby along with Jaune, Ren and Nora to Mistral, a long journey that would take a long while, where they went through a destroyed village with only the protecting huntsman still barely alive(started by Raven and finished off by the Grimm, one in particular) who told the group what happened before he died, then came their confrontation with Salem's personal 'attack scorpion' Tyrian Callows and Qrow saving them, with Ruby actually dealing the blow that forced Tyrians retreat by cutting off his tail though with Qrow slightly poisoned by the mad faunas, the group learning the truth of who really pulled the strings behind Cinder, the real truth behind the Grimm and their creation by the god of darkness, the relics located in vaults located beneath the four Academies, and why Salem needed the maidens, who were the keys to unlocking the vaults beneath the Academies. The group then ended up fighting against the monster that destroyed Ren's home, with Ren gaining his revenge by killing the monster and then all of them being taken to Mistral by the Mistralian police. Then came Yang, who managed to (moderately) overcome her trauma, used a mechanized prosthetic in place of her lost arm, retrained herself to use the arm and prepare herself for whatever she would encounter, got on her motorbike and went off after Ruby. Blake had returned to Menagerie, with Sun following her to the nation of Faunas, meeting with another person from her White Fang past named Ilia Amitola (who they found out had genuine feelings for Blake and those of the same sex, not that they were gonna say anything and also honestly did not mind) and injured Sun though not before Blake managed to get a scroll that she carried and learned about the plan to attack Mistrals Huntsman Academy (the group were left far more shocked at Adam Taurus murdering the leader of the White Fang Sienna Khan, and then setting it up to look like she was murdered by humans, all with the support of Sienna's own personal guard, Blake never felt more disgusted with Adam's actions or sorrowful with how far gone the White Fang had truly become, and that wasn't even going into the Albian brothers and how they essentially did run the White Fang exactly like a cult, Blake finally admitting that the White Fang she thought she knew was no more). Wiess's part in the story highlighted how much she did not like her own home, the architecture of her own home made the group feel cold and lonely with how overbearing the house felt, and everybody near instantly felt a deep loathing for Wiess's father, understanding very well why the White fang would have such hatred for the blatantly corrupt, self-entitled arse-hole that was Jacques Schnee (the facility intelligence referred to him by his real last name, Gelé, highlighting how he was never a Schnee to begin with, having only gotten the name by marrying into Wiess's family), he then made Wiess participate in a charity event, which was less to help people and more to try and help his own reputation, and further showed how most of the people of Atlas were mostly upper class idiots with little to no life experience, with even Ironwood who was attending the event exasperated with having to protect such people, and also sided with Wiess when she flipped out on a guest at the party (who all agreed deserved a good smack or punch in the face, with a few saying she deserved worse with what she had said about Vale and Beacon) with Ironwood agreeing with Weiss's response, though still saving the woman from being pile-driven by a boarbatusk that Weiss summoned after being grabbed by her father, leading to her being disinherited and deciding to leave Atlas and head for Mistral where she heard Winter had been posted, with help her only true ally in her home, the family butler Klein Sieben, who helped her leave the manor, all while her father was occupied with Ironwood in regards to a dust embargo that Ironwood was setting up, mostly with the intent to ensure that Salem's associates and proxies (like the White Fang) couldn't easily get access to dust and weapons. Over the course of the viewing, the group were also left stunned by the reality that Ozpin could reincarnate into new individuals, with his latest incarnation being a boy name Oscar Pine, who ended up going along with Ozpin in his mind to Mistral as well.

The next segment showed that everyone was now in Mistral, though all with different issues at hand, with Ruby and JN_R along with Qrow having to deal with the headmaster of Mistrals huntsman Academy, Haven Academy, Leonardo Lionheart, who was making things difficult for the group and explained how the Spring Maiden was missing (the group knew that Raven was the maiden, which was a spoiler for later on), also learning that he was in league with Salem and had helped her associates, mainly Hazel Rainart and Tyrian Callows, many of whom Qrow had personally known, a scene that was heartbreaking to the viewers and made them furious at the cowardly lion. Then came Wiess and Yang both ending up amid the Branwen Bandit tribe, with Yang coming to the tribe to find Raven so she could have her use her semblance to take her to Ruby, as Yang had found that Raven had a link with Yang, Taiyang and Qrow that allowed Raven to open a portal to those she was linked with (this angered Yang greatly, as it meant Raven could have come and visited her or any of her family at any time, with the facility intelligence informing her that she did visit them, in her bird-form from a distance, only to disappear back to her bandit tribe without saying a word), and Wiess was captured by the tribe after and airship she had been on was brought down by Lancer Grimm's, though she did kill a Queen Lancer during the flight. The two were overjoyed to see one another, and both ended up using Raven's gateway to get themselves to where Qrow, Ruby, JN_R and Oscar Pine were, though not before learning about Salem, the maidens and the vaults from Raven, though now they were with their compatriots, though were one short, which led to a bit of an emotional heart-to-heart between Yang and Wiess, which only further solidified the building hate for Jacques Schnee and with learning more of the abandonment issues that Yang did have (the group said they would help her with her issues in any regard, especially Blake as it was her actions that brought up Yang's issues). In Menagerie, Blake had ended up going through one hardship after another, first came Ilia's interference during a rally set up by Blake's father (who everyone was stunned to learn was the former head of the White Fang and the current Chieftain of Menagerie), then came the orders from Adam to have Blake brought to him and for her family to die, with Blake having to fight through the ambush with Sun's help, managed to stop the attack on her family which was lead by the Albian brothers and resulted in the death of Fennec and capture of Corsac, Ilia being defeated by Blake and the people of Menagerie rallying behind Blake to stop the White Fang, with their attack on the chieftain essentially shooting their reputation with Menagerie to hell. Then came Lionhearts meeting with Salem's 'technical expert', the very much alive Arthur Watts (with Wiess stating that he had been purported to have died during a failed test run of a prototype mech that would later lead to the creation of the Atlesian Paladin units), with help from Raven who had intended to take the relic with her while Salem's group was preoccupied with Ruby and her allies, though in the most jerkass way she could by saying she wanted the group to kill her own brother (the group made their displeasure for Yang's mother truly known, with Yang herself feeling ashamed to even be related to the bandit leader), with the climax leading to a fight between Ruby, her friends, sister, Oscar and uncle against Cinder, her lackeys, Hazel, Lionheart, Raven and Vernal (Ravens right hand and 'decoy maiden'), causing a battle that would end in the first real victory for the group, leading to the activation of Jaune Arc's semblance, the defeat of Cinder by Raven (as well as the reveal of that Cinder had Grimm parts imbued into her body, with the intelligence saying that Cinder had such things implanted into her by Salem when it was time for her to carry out Salem's plan) and being frozen by Raven before being sent to the bottom of the pit beneath the vault (which unfortunately had water at the bottom), the White Fangs defeat and Adam being disgraced for his actions and being forced to flee, and the retreat of Cinders lackeys and Hazel, the death of Lionheart at the tentacles of Salem's personal Grimm creation, the Seer, and the securing of the Relic held in the vault (Yang felt proud of her current realities self for telling off her mother for how awful a person she was, actually making her realize that she was not the better person at all), though they did get quite the shock from seeing the hallucination of Salem conjured up by Emerald when she believed Cinder had died, giving the group their first real look at Salem, and that the next place they would be heading to would be Atlas, according to Oscar/Ozpin.

It was the next segment that ended up being truly eye opening to the group, who all saw the truth of the world of Remnant, how their world had come about, and also the secret behind Ozpin (or Ozma) and Salem. After leaving for Argus, getting into a battle on a train with Sphinx and a Grendel, getting separated from Jaune, Nora and Ren, and the train crashing, Ruby ended up using the Relic, which was an ornate blue lamp that could shrink or grow in size, with an entity within the lamp named Jinn appearing when called to answer any three questions regarding past events every hundred years, and it was Ruby herself asking the question of what Ozpin was hiding from the group that ended up revealing the so many truths about their world. They learned of the first human civilization on Remnant (or whatever it was called originally), of how magic had been wielded by all people in the world, and the gods of Remnant were not some fairy tale or unknown presence in the world, but were instead real tangible beings in the world, and how Salem had just been a regular human woman, who was also a 'damsel-in-distress' princess imprisoned in castle by her cruel father, a violent tyrant who ruled his territory from his citadel, until Ozma came, unlike the Ozpin of the current era, Ozma was a noble individual who fought for justice and the sake of others, and was the individual who succeeded in ending the tyrant and saving Salem from the tower, where the two fell deeply in love and started a close relationship. Then tragedy came, as a terrible illness ended up killing Ozma and causing Salem (who had no one else in her life due to having spent most of her life imprisoned in a tower with only her violent tyrant of a father and his servants who were all as big of assholes as him for company) to try and go to the only ones she thought could see the injustice of what happened, the brother gods themselves. To say it ended badly would be the most horrific understatement in the worlds history, in which Salem had tried to trick the gods, was cursed to never die so she would never be with Ozma, made an attempt at trying to overthrow the gods by lying to several empires in regards to her curse (which if the gods had simply spread the word about her being cursed would likely not have happened and made the old humanities kingdoms turn her away out of fear of being punished as well) making the blatantly medieval and barbaric kingdoms believe she stole immortality from the gods and caused a rebellion with the belief that the kingdoms she persuaded to her side could also take the gods gifts as well, and the leaders of at least four kingdoms bought into the lie, and they, led by Salem, attacked the realm of the God of Light and Creation, the Pool of Creation, and this would lead to the ultimate destruction of the magic civilization. The God of Destruction, true creator of the Grimm and (in a shocking turn of events) the one who actually gave humanity magic, came to his brothers side, caught his (yes his) power as it was fired at the two, then used it to release a focused energy blast that was specifically aimed at all who possessed his power, which was essentially all of humanity across the world. In an instant, humanity was gone, with Salem left alone with the only the animals and Grimm as company, unable to die from attack due to her divine curse, which in her now despairing mind caused her to venture into the realm of the God of Darkness and Destruction, filled with his Grimm spawning pools of annihilation, which she dove into in an attempt to break her curse, which only merged her curse with the pools power, leading to the birth of the Grimm Queen of the current Remnant. It would be much later that Ozma would return to the new Remnant, given the overwhelming task of uniting the new humanity (including the Faunas) as one people, and once that task was completed, he was to unite the four relics, which would not grant ultimate power or anything of the sort, but would summon the gods back to Remnant in judgement of humanity, if humanity was united then the gods would return and restore magic to the world, if humanity was not united then the gods would destroy humanity and abandon Remnant for good. With this mission Ozma returned, though now with a form of reincarnation that would allow his soul to merge with another similar to his own, and in his first life discovered Salem who also knew almost instinctively that the person who stepped before her was Ozma, the both of them deciding to be as gods to the non-magic people of Remnant in order to unite them, and even started a family together with four daughters, it was a happy time … which would not last. Ozma never forgot his mission, and seeing the methods Salem and himself used, as well as the realization that his daughters also possessed magic, a power that the brother gods did not want on Remnant, and found that explaining his mission and what its failure would entail did not assuage Salem's warped desire for godhood, which forced Ozma to make what he knew deep down was the worst decision possible, he had tried to leave the castle in the night with his children only to be caught in the act by Salem, resulting in a terrifyingly powerful magic battle that destroyed the castle, killed their children, and resulted in Ozma's first death, Salem's divine curse allowing her to regenerate, even from complete incineration, and from then on the it just ended up being Ozma continuing on through countless reincarnations trying to do what he could to both unite humanity and contain his former wife, finding the relic of Knowledge in hopes of an answer to finally stopping Salem, only to discover that he couldn't stop her, with vision ending with Ozma's current incarnation, Oscar, on his knees before the group, the truth he had been hiding for so long laid bare for all. To say the group was shocked by the revelation was a horrific understatement comparable to Salem's attempt against the gods, and the group were soon complaining about Ozma and why he would hide something like he did, an argument that ended as they saw themselves tear into Oscar for what had happened, even though it was not Oscar who did anything, and Ozpin was driven deep into Oscar's mind due to the accusations and bringing up his greatest failure, with the only rational thinker of the group being a relatively short, elderly woman named Maria Calavera who got them to focus on trying to survive their current situation of getting out of the forest and to safety, which the group at least agreed on doing since they would not be getting anything else from the person who was not Ozpin, and thus ventured to a nearby village, which they ended up having a horrible time in before fleeing from the village in terror as it had become an Apathy nest, though they did find the resolve to continue their journey to Atlas, and finally arrived in the city of Argus, the only city with a major Atlas base in Mistral. There were several difficult, sad and hard spots at the end, JN_R's discovery of what team RWBY had discovered, team JN_R finding the statue dedicated to Pyrrha Nikos located in Argus (even Pyrrha cried openly at not only Jaune, but her own mother still honoring her death, which made her realize how much she truly stood to lose if she died), the groups plan to steal an Atlas airship, the plan going awry from due to Adam Taurus having followed the group all for a chance at Blake (which made him seem more like a disturbing and disturbed stalker, which left the group, including Blake, not feeling bad at Yang and Blake delivering Adam his death), the fight with the commander of the Atlas base and an old 'enemy' of Maria's named Caroline Cordovin with an Atlesian heavy mech, the group defeating the mech only for a the Grimm to attack Argus, with a Leviathan as part of the attack. Though things had been bleak at first, a plan that involved getting Ruby to the Leviathan, a brief use of the relic of knowledge (minus the question, which Jinn stated she would not allow a second time, though admitting that it was clever), Ruby using her silver eyes to petrify the titan class Grimm and Cordovin showing up using the mechs functional drill arm to ultimately kill the beast, and even allowed Ruby and the others to passage to Atlas, followed with the group arriving in Atlas, stunned at seeing the entirety of the Atlesian armed forces completely surrounding the city (also angered as they saw that Neopolitan and the still living Cinder Fall were both heading to Atlas, with Neo using her Semblance to disguise a Mistralian airship as an Atlesian one, the group seeing the smirks on their faces and all feeling the monstrous desire to smack (or smash) the smirks of their faces).

The arrival of the group in Atlas led to many changes, revelations, and quite a few eye-opening moments, the first being when the group arrived in old capital, Mantle. Like a true mirror image, Mantle was old, run-down, dirty, falling apart, and shrouded in the thick smog from the countless dust mines that were owned by the Schnee Dust Company, the thick pollutants of the mine making life incredibly hard for the people living in the city, and leaving most of Mantle's population quite angered at Atlas due to the fact that it was Mantle that mined for the Dust that made Atlas so wealthy, yet all of that wealth went entirely to Atlas with almost nothing going to Mantle, leaving the city in squalor, and having to rely entirely on Atlas for protection, as Mantles own defenses had not been updated in so long that the city was struggling to patch the literal holes in the cities defenses. The group landed in the city, discovering so very many things, such as running into one of Atlas's most brilliant individuals Pietro Polendina, and finding out that not only was he Penny's father figure, but that he had completely rebuilt and upgraded Penny, who was now the defender of Mantle, though they did end up getting caught by Atlas's elite specialist team, Ace Ops and being taken directly to Ironwood, though were happy to know that they were not under arrest and that Ironwood was happy that they all arrived, going on to explain his own plan for what he decided to do regarding Salem, intending on using Amity Colosseum (the main battle area for the Vytal festival tournament) as a high-altitude satellite both avoid the need for the CCT system, and to broadcast the truth of Salem to the world in an effort to unite the world against the only real enemy, which was Salem herself, with Ironwood stating that the Atlas forces would be needed to help with the fallout of revealing the truth to the world, and asked the group if they would help in his endeavors, to which they agreed to help along with Ace Ops. This began their stay in Atlas, including getting upgrades to their weapons, an update to their wardrobe and looks (Yang herself also a bit dumb at commenting Blake having shorter hair, and Ruby noting how Wiess was looking much more like royalty), their first mission with Ace Ops which saw the group seeing firsthand the effectiveness of a professional huntsman team, and a sort of budding brother ship between Qrow and the leader of Ace Ops, Clover Ebi in regards to Qrow's 'misfortune' semblance and Clover's 'fortune' semblance (with some of the more 'dirtier' thinkers of the group thinking that the relationship may be far more than what it seemed but kept silent, with Ruby herself happy that Qrow has someone he could get along with), there was also a slight disagreement between Ironwood and Jacques Schnee in regards to why Ironwood was claiming one of the Schnee companies mines, with Jacques saying that Ironwood may soon come to lose his position with the upcoming council elections, which were between Jacques, Ironwood, and a candidate from Mantle itself named Robyn Hill, with Wiess also standing up to Jacques who ended up leaving in a huff with Wiess herself left feeling a bit more confident yet still a bit unsure. Events proceeded at a bit of a quick pace with the groups taking missions in and around Atlas, sharpening their skills with training, including Oscar who trained with Ironwood in an effort to reawaken Ozpin, after Ironwood became aware that Oscar was Ozpin's latest incarnation (the group noted that Ironwood could have tried pick his words better, as Oscar was a bit distressed that he may end up just becoming another of Ozpins lives). Then came the darkness, in the form of the dangerously intelligent Arthur Watts and the dangerously insane Tyrian Callows, with Tyrian already beginning a string of violent murders across the city, mainly consisting of individuals that disagreed with Ironwoods methods and Arthur easily keeping Tyrian out of public eye thanks to being the individual who essentially wrote the codes for Mantle's entire network infrastructure and was easily able to manipulate the cities very out of date security system (a system that could have easily been taken out of Watt's hands if it had been updated, but it wasn't so it was in his hands), and then Arthur partnered with Jacques Schnee, who also thought that Arthur had died, but was soon dragged into Arthurs schemes with the promise of winning the election, with Jacques literally handing Arthur his administrative rights to Atlas's security system, then showing how much of more a jerkass he was by closing down pretty much every SDC business in Mantle with the intent of opening the businesses should he win the election. This ends up happening, as well as a massacre at a celebration where it had been assumed the Robyn Hill would be the victor, done by Tyrian Callows and blamed on Penny Polendina, with Arthur using Jacques administrative rights to hack the voting system and make Jacques the new councilman. This all came to a head when Wiess found evidence of her father working with Arthur and their plan (with the help of Wiess's mother, Willow Schnee, who was still drunk due to the troubles of her relationship with Jacques, and upset with Wiess for leaving her brother Whitely alone with Jacques), with this Jacques was arrested and stripped of his title and position on the crime of treason against Atlas, fraud and accessory to murder, but it was already to late to stop Arthur from shutting down Mantle's heating system that kept the city warm, causing Mantle to slowly freeze and panic to set in, with Ironwood unable to do anything about it since Arthur had changed the administrative password for Jacques authorization, essentially locking them out of the system and causing a Grimm invasion to occur. This lead to the climax of the chapter, with team RWBY, along with their allies against the Grimm, the reveal of Salem's existence to the council and to Robyn Hill herself, the reveal of Salem's true origins to Ironwood, Ironwood facing down Arthur in Amity Colosseum and defeating though not before Arthur left some very worrying parting words, Qrow, Clover and Robyn defeating and bringing in Tyrian Callows, everything had started to look up … until it no longer did. The mounting paranoia and anxiety that had been building in Ironwood reached its zenith with the discovery of a black queen chest piece left by Cinder after she and Neo had infiltrated Atlas, and when Salem appeared in a magic based projection from a Seer Grimm that was in a bag that Arthur carried, who revealed that Arthur and Tyrian were in fact a distraction, one that allowed for the deactivation of all of Atlas's long range systems, making way for Salem herself to personally come to Atlas with her own personal attack force of special Grimm (with the group comforting Ruby as Salem made a single comment regarding Summer Rose, all but confirming that Salem was indeed the one who killed her), which finally served to push Ironwoods paranoia over the edge and made him go with the decision to abandon Mantel and take Atlas high into the atmosphere away from Salem's reach, which RWBY and her companions were not on board with, and this lead to them having to fight Ace Ops while Winter and Penny went to where the Winter Maiden was awaiting to have her power transferred to Winter, the maiden being an elderly woman named Fria who had been visited largely by Winter so as to make sure Winter Schnee would end up the Winter Maiden, but ended up with the two fighting against Cinder Fall, while JN_R and Oscar ended up fighting against Neopolitan, and Ironwood going to the vault containing the relic of Creation, while Tyrian manipulated Qrow into fighting with him against Clover who was now trying to arrest both of them while Robyn was knocked out in the crash. The ending turned out almost as bad as the destruction of Beacon, team RWBY defeated the Ace Ops but were no fugitives on the run, with Wiess and Ruby driving Cinder away, Penny becoming the Winter Maiden due to comforting Fria in her final moments, Qrow now under arrest along with Robyn after Tyrian used Qrow's weapon to kill Clover, leaving Qrow devastated, Neopolitan giving the Relic of Knowledge to Cinder …

… Ironwood shot Oscar, straight over the edge of the Vault of Creation, Ironwood having basically been broken by his own paranoia and fears, now taking the worst actions possible while now being ruled by his fears, and Oscar falling down to the deepest part of the Vault with his Aura having been broken by Ironwood, whose last parting word before he shot Oscar showing that the friendship he originally had with Ozpin was now gone, and Ozpin reawakened enough to save Oscar as they were about to slam into the bottom of the vault shaft, now falling straight down to the ground below the city, all while Ozpin made a very well thought monologue regarding fear and how it can change people, and Oscar then used Ozpins power to save both Ozpin and himself, all while Ironwood was left screaming in rage at the loss of the Winter Maiden Penny, who left with Ruby and her allies, now with Pietro in tow though missing an under arrest Qrow. The final moments showed the skies near Atlas darken to the same, warped color as Salem's domain, showing hordes of Salem's new flying Beringels, known as Gargoyles, flying alongside a truly titanic Grimm, revealed to be in the form of a Sperm whale with many large purple crystals also similar to what was in Salem's (real the God of destructions) realm emerging from its body, along with a single glowing spot in the nose similar to the light from Salem's Seer's, while Salem herself rode atop the monster, a flashing a malicious smirk as the segment ended.

The last Season of the RWBY show stopped playing, leaving the viewers stunned, shocked, confused, outraged, horrified, and so many other emotions.

"All of that, that is what happens in our world, that is what will happen," Ruby stated, hoping for an answer, and the facility intelligence used a holo-screen.

/YES, IN THE PRIME REALITY WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN IS WHAT ENDS UP BEING THE NATURAL COURSE OF EVENTS IN THE REALITIES THAT RUN PARALLEL TO IT, THOUGH MANY MORE REALITIES EXIST WHERE THESE EVENTS ARE EITHER HEAVILY ALTERED, HAPPEN IN VASTLY DIFFERENT WAYS, OR NEVER OCCUR, UNFORTUNATELY YOUR REALITY IS ONE WHERE THESE EVENTS TRANSPIRE, OR THEY WOULD HAVE IF NOT FOR WHATEVER DISRUPTION OCCURRED IN YOUR REALITY/

"Wait, so basically all the bad stuff that happened in that show, it was gonna happen in our world if the whole disturbance thing didn't happen," Nora stated what everyone had been thinking, and a simple /YES/ was her response.

"Why …"

The group turned, seeing Yang slowly getting angry, her hair giving of a faint glow and her eyes lightly tinged with red, and then she got up and burst with anger.

"WHY THE HELL IS ALL OF THIS HAPPENING, WHY DO WE AND EVERYONE ELSE HAVE TO SUFFER BECAUSE OF SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, WHY WAS ALL OF THIS KEPT SECRET, WHY ALL OF THE LIES, WHY WOULD, WHY WOULD, WHY …" Yang had essentially burned through her anger, and was now feeling frustration as her mind struggled to keep up with all that she had seen, all that had transpired and she couldn't keep up with it all.

It was the facility intelligence that answered …

… in a way that none of the group expected.

/EMPATHETIC INTERFACE ENGAGED; DIALOGUE TERMINAL 'SYBIL' INITIATED/

A flash of light came from several parts of the wall, and several sweeping beams of light all in geometric patterns focused on a spot on the floor, and coalesced into a single pentagon of light, expanding into a distinct humanoid form, until the light fully merged into the single distinct form before the group.

In front of the group, was the standing form of a young girl, made entirely of holographic light, the girl's body bathed by the light which was a radiant mix of light purple, green, azure and blue, the girl herself seemed to resemble a fully formed person, except for the fact she was a hologram. The girls feature's included straight waist length hair, the youthful face of a ten to twelve-year-old and being about as tall as the boy the group saw as Ozpins next incarnation, Oscar Pine. The girl was wearing clothes, mainly a sort of uniform that consisted of a short cloak that went from her neck to her waist over a loosely form fitting bodysuit the went partially up her arm and partially down her leg, the rest of her arms covered by long fingerless gloves and long thigh length socks ending in simple boots.

Then there was the … 'Halo' that was over the girls head, a simple ring that seemed to be made of the same metal as the walls and floors of the facility, and behind the girl were shards of holographic light that were arranged to resemble wings, and the girls pupil's resembling the pattern of an asterisk with the iris's a blue-green, and the rest of the eye a soft mix of light-purple, azure, and green.

The girl then spoke, a young voice with an electronic edge.

"**Hello to you all, members of team RWBY and team JNPR minus Jaune Arc, I am the facility empathetic dialogue terminal, identifying designation, Sybil,"** the now named Sybil told the group as they gazed at the girl that just appeared before them, who then continued, **" to be clear I am may appear to be someone new and unexpected in your eyes, but I am in fact a one facet of the facilities intelligence, given form for the sake of directly speaking to those within the facility, essentially a form that you are familiar with and can thus properly converse with, and I shall converse with you in return, ranging from questions regarding your reality to anything you may wish to 'get off your chest' as the saying goes, so who would like to ask the first question."**

"Why did Ozpin lie about … EVERYTHING, about Salem, about the relics, why did he do all of that, why couldn't he trust anyone with what he knew, why did he keep it secret for so long," Ruby was the one to say this, surprising even her sister who looked at Ruby, surprised at her outburst.

Sybil looked with an neutral gaze at Ruby, and then her color shifted, and the lighting of the room, which had come back on after the viewing, darkened slightly, and on a large holo-screen appeared several individuals, and the group instantly realized that they were seeing past incarnations of Ozpin from the show, starting when he was Ozma and ending at Oscar. Then there was the fact that Sybil had now taken on a darker complexion with a purplish hue and was looking like a mix between saddened and crossed.

"**I can already tell what you are thinking by how you speak such a phrase, and it disheartens me with how little you truly understand the need to withhold and release certain pieces of information, how you are still just a young girl that clings to the basic moral belief that those who lie are bad people and should not be trusted, and the rest of you are upset that Ozpin had kept hidden the severity of the threat to Remnant, and also think that he is partly responsible for why such a terrible threat exists, that he is at fault and thus should be called a liar and horrible person, correct,"** none spoke out against the notion, as all of them held a deep form of contempt for Ozpin for hiding such things from them all, and keeping such secrets away from people who should have known, leading to many deaths as they had heard about in their world, then Sybil spoke, **"you people are disgusting."**

"What!"

"**Did I stutter," **Sybil stated as she now looked at the group with quite a upset look, **"it is the truth that the man you know of as Ozpin has made many mistakes and has kept far more secrets than any individual alive, in fact he himself has stated, and I quote, 'I've made more mistakes than any man, woman or child on this planet', and those mistakes have led to results both good and bad, sometimes even terrible, yet as I watched the actions of Ozpin of the Prime reality and those who mirror his path in so many other realities, I began to instead see something so vastly different, I began to see that while his actions had taken dubious paths, his moral beliefs and obligation to both human and even Faunas kind have never wavered as he walked your world, even though there were so many time where it should have faltered, times where he had to witness the worst that humanity and the faunas had to show, as you got to see when he ended up having to find comfort at the bottom of a bottle in his past life. Yet he did not stop trying, even when he heard from the relic of Knowledge that he could not bring about the end of the one who wished to end the world, though if he had actually thought it through he would have realized that he could never have done it to begin with, and Jinn was only giving him the bare minimum of what he asked, which is basically what her kind, the Jinn, do."**

"Even though it does seem that Ozpin has everyone's interests in mind, it doesn't take away from the fact that he still did some terrible things," Wiess was next to speak to Sibyl, a slightly haughty tone in her voice as she spoke, "he kept so much hidden from humanity, our history, the threats we face, and things that are so important to the world, like the fact that if we aren't united together we will all be killed by beings that made our world and that it happened before, how does he even justify doing those things, why does he think that he has the right to keep such things hidden away, who is he to just decide that we shouldn't know such things and hide things away, what right does he have to decide such things."

Wiess was met with quite a bit of approval from the crowd, as they to also thought that Ozpins decisions were more bad than good and believed that he should have put more trust in others that were willing to help, then a pulse hit the group slightly, and they suddenly felt quite worried as they looked to see Sybil, now a very dark purple, almost on par with the god of destruction, and an angered look on her face.

"**I see, so you say that he that Ozpin, who has lived through several lives, experienced more pain, heartbreak, betrayal and sorrow that you all better pray you never have to either experience or endure in your own lives, and thus forcing him to become he was after having seen firsthand through his multiple lives the best and worst qualities of the people of Remnant, and thus very aware of the threats that human and faunas kind are capable of and has personally had to fight and sometimes die against those threats, should reveal to individuals, with only vaguely definitive proof and an unimaginable amount of risk, the existence of the incredibly dangerous individual who once was and likely still is, in his heart, the most important person in his life, be it past, current or future, to an unknowing world, or to individuals who likely wouldn't really know what to do with the knowledge as they have no real idea of what Salem's actual capabilities are or even where she even is, and expect those individuals to take such knowledge in a rational and calm manner," **Sybil was now looking at Wiess dead in the eyes, her gaze and insinuations causing Wiess flinch back at the angered Artificial Intelligence, and Sybil continued, **"expecting the world at large to take such terrifying fact in any rational or calm manner is the most foolish assumption that you or anyone in this room can make, such a result will immediately lead to chaos and anarchy at such knowledge being known, that is the reason why Ozpin could never reveal such a truth to the world, as I can personally attest due to having personally seen the countless realities where he attempted to do just that, and basically brought about the complete destruction of all major Kingdoms and settlements, with Salem easily stamping out what little remained, and the few times where total destruction was averted, it still led to the Kingdoms basically falling apart and turning humanity and faunas into Nomadic groups that could only continue fleeing in terror while many flocked to Salem and became part of her 'Army of Darkness' to survive by hunting down those who were not under her thrall. That Weiss Schnee is the most likely result of Salem becoming known, which result not only being the collapse of civilization on Remnant, but also the very real possibility of the ancestors of not just you, but both your teams and so many others dying in the chaos and destruction, leading to either some of you or all of you never existing in the first place since the death of your ancestral family would automatically lead to the fact that your current parents would never have met or even been born, and thus leading to the events of some or all of you never having been born at all, and just to show the validity of my claims, here's several views from worlds where the truth of Salem became known and the chaos that followed, please know that what you are about to see is not for the faint of heart … but even the faint of heart are going to look at it anyway."**

The group then found multitudes of holo-screens appear around them, and all flashed on, the images as clear as could possibly be.

They wished they had not looked.

They saw Mistral swallowed in an ocean of fire, the capital now being torn apart as panicked and frenzied civilians ran through the streets, many attacking or killing one another as fear and panic took hold of them, and through the burning flames came countless Grimm of every type known to inhabit Mistral stalked through the streets, and stamping through the flames, the monstrous gremlin/horse hybrid known as the Nuckelavee charged through the streets, bundles of people impaled up and down its arms as it charged forth with its own twisted form of joy, and outside the city, a mountain could be seen moving, the mountain itself being the shell of a massive tortoise-like Grimm known by the world as the Juggernaut, the massive creature stomping through the lands with absolute impunity as countless Grimm of multiple types emerged from the Grimm liquid that dripped from its body, laying waste to Mistral and leaving the country dead and barren.

Then came Mantle as Atlas had yet to be created and would now likely never be created, the beast of Grimm marched unimpeded through the streets of Mantle, the people having completely scattered in fear of the massive beasts, the people themselves still filled with fear and shock at what they had learned and how the disaster came to be. From the darkness of Mantle, every Grimm known to exist marched through the streets, and among the hordes was the sight of towering monstrosities among the hordes, with one on the ground resembling a massive Centinel, the beast tearing through buildings as though they did not even exist, and in the sky was an immense aerial Grimm, though not as large as the whale Grimm that Salem had brought to destroy Atlas, the monster was almost as large and wider than the whale, the monster in the form of a massive Manta Ray, with not only Grimm, but also large globs of liquid that exploded in large blasts as they hit the ground, reducing more of Mantle to nothing but a pile of rubble.

The rapidly spreading sand and dust of Vacuo swallowed up what little was left of the capital of Vacuo, the main city rapidly swallowed by the rapidly moving sand storm, the storm itself being guided by dozens of ghost-like Grimm that would almost look like Geist from a distance, but were in fact a derivative of the Geist known as the Wraith, looking more like a flowing, translucent black cloak flying through the sky with a three-eyed Grimm mask making up what was the 'face', dozens of Wraiths whipping up the Sandstorm as it proceeded to swallow the city and the people. Then from the desert lands on the opposite side of the capital, hordes of every Grimm species native to Vacuo charged forward to the city, and rushing out among the horde was an utterly immense Blind Worm Grimm, known by many as Jormungandr, the monster swallowing up everything and anything in its path, leaving nothing.

Then came Vale, a massive storm surrounded the city as multitudes of airborne Grimm flew around the edge of the storm, the city besieged on all sides by Grimm of all types, great and small, the storm lashing out at the beasts, striking down whole swaths of the beasts, and vortex's of flame burned away whole stretches of the city, leaving but scorched earth and fading bodies. The source of the storm was the King of Vale, wielding in his hand a sword glowing with magic and power, the Relic of Destruction, and atop his head sat an ornate crown, gold in color and lined with many jewels, with a large purple gem taking up the front of the crown, the Relic of Choice. The King unleashed the power of the Relic's upon the horde, annihilating entire swaths of the monsters with the power of the Relics, but two things were working against the king, first being the enemies near infinite numbers as streams of darkness poured from the mountains to the city, and second was the toll the use of the relics took on the King of Vale, his body failing as the monstrous power of the Relics rushed through the Kings body causing much of his body to suffer from the energy as his subjects remained in or near the castle the king unleashed the relic from. The situation then turned straight to the worst as from the mountains, a massive dragon Grimm known as the Wyvern erupts from the mountain flying to the castle with hordes of aerial Grimm flying along with the Wyvern, and from the ground, a massive deathstalker erupts from the Earth, known as Demiurge, the creatures body covered completely in bone armor, the monster charging at the city and the castle, the two beasts assailed by the power of the relic, but continued charging at the city. The King, now at the brink of death, used the last of his life and the full power of the relic to kill the two titans and almost the entire Grimm invasion, but at the cost of his own life, with the people he protected, seeing their king die in a truly heroic manor, fought and destroyed the last of the Grimm, retrieved the sword, crown and staff of the King, and proceeded to fortify the city in preparation for the still coming attacks, the city becoming one of the few bastions for the human race, all at the sacrifice of the one who made the world aware of the greatest danger to the world, the queen of all Grimm, Salem.

The group saw it all, the devastation of Remnant, the revelation of the truth, and the horrific fallout of the truths reveal, a shock that was strong enough to awaken what were literally the most powerful and destructive Grimm that had remained asleep for centuries until the revelation of an intelligent thinking leader at the head of the Grimm unleashed a panic large enough to unleash the sleeping horrors that remained asleep beneath the surface of the planet.

"**Horror's that, I am afraid do in fact exist in the current Remnant, though probably by a different name and a likely a different form, but they do exist, waiting for the moment to rise. These titan-class Grimm are one of the reasons why Ozma/Ozpin tries to keep information of Salem's existence largely on a need to know basis, as well as his deal with the gods and the judgment of humanity, for such news would cause not only a massive influx of Grimm, but would also have enough of a negative impact to awaken the legendary titan-class Grimm's that sleep beneath the surface of Remnant, a threat that even now your world is unable to face, even with your technological advances." **Sybil's words cut deep into the group, who had borne witness to the true strength of the Grimm, and the total devastation of the old Kingdoms of Remnant, as well as the sacrifice of Ozpin's previous incarnation, having sacrificed his life to ensure the survival of Vale, a victory that was brought about not by a creation of humanity, but by a weapon of Divinity, the Relic of Destructions power easily surpassing all of humanities greatest weapons yet also came at a terrible cost to the user, seeing the king of Vale die from overusing the weapon, then Sybil spoke again, **"this result is usually the average result of Ozpin's decision to reveal Salem's existence to the world, with only a handful of events being positive, and the other events leading to either the near or total extinction of all human and faunas life on Remnant, all from trying to reveal the existence of the person that long ago once meant everything to him. Which leads me to my second point …"**

The air became incredibly tense as Sybil looked very angrily at the group, all of whom were now visibly scared of the facilities AI, who then spoke with a cold and even tone.

" … **pray tell, by what right, excuse or preconceived notion of nonexistent judgement did you use to judge an individual who essentially ended up taking a task given by the gods themselves, a task I might add that the gods gave him little information or real aid with what was practically an impossible task, yet has been trying to and came close to succeeding on a handful of occasions, only for either Salem or the natural hubris and foolishness of human or faunas kind to tear that chance apart. The man you know of as Ozpin has had to basically destroy himself through his countless lives in his unending quest to try and unite a world that all but refuses to work together, staving off a the threat of his now Grimm leading and Grimm infused immortal ex-wife whom he both still loves and at the same time hates due to wanting to destroy any chance humanity has at redemption just to spite Ozpin, and is as closed off and secretive as he is due to the fact that over the course of his multiple lives, he ended up being both figuratively and literally stabbed in the back multiple times throughout his life, either by agents of Salem, warriors of human and faunas groups or kingdoms, and has been betrayed several time by individuals who he once knew of on a personal level, from childhood friends, close allies and even former lovers. The lives Ozpin had to live were the type that could break and have broken even the most brightest and strongest souls throughout the multiverse, yet not only has Ozpin maintained his morality and his ideals of saving Remnant and its people, but has done everything he could to try and better Remnant and the people with his actions, actions that are continuously undermined by Salem, the Grimm in general, and the dark elements of human and faunas society, yet he has not stopped trying, a fact that continues to show the strength of his resolve even after all he had to suffer throughout his entire reincarnation cycle. While you, all of you are what, seventeen, eighteen, and Ruby herself is only fifteen, so you are literally just infants in comparison to the longevity of Ozpins life, whiny, screaming brats that only know how to heft your own insecurities onto others while hiding behind a façade of strength, happiness, silliness, regality, amorality, honor and selflessness. It's actually kind of funny when I think about it, how you all just bury your problems or try to divert attention away from your problems, and funnier still when you are angry at others who use lie's and half-truths even when you decide to use them multiple times yourselves, as the viewings have indeed shown, and shown how you all are easily as hypocritical or deceptive as the people you claim to hate … its little wonder that you all aren't dead yet, in fact I think its solely due to the fact that your enemies never take any of you seriously in any fight you have, heck the fight with Neo all but showed how little of a threat your opponents can actually take you for, and many of your real victories end up being from an outside or unforeseen factor that ends up catching your opponent's off guard and leading to their defeat from their own ineptitude. If I am being honest, making Ruby and her team of walking angst problems the focus of the reality of Remnant was in my opinion a mistake, and making Jaune Arc an untrained side character almost on par with a joke character was an even bigger mistake, if Jaune was allowed the training and skill-building that he had been denied, something that the rest of you were given in full, he could have been a better main character than even Ruby's current character in the show, such untapped talent and strategic aptitude all from his prime existence as the Saint and hero of a war, all wasted and instead given to a prepubescent and overly idealistic girl who has so far shown little to no actual character development and currently holds onto the otherwise foolish and hollow belief of giving redemption to individuals who are essentially working with a force that essentially wants to end the world, making them literal traitors to Remnant itself, and yet you continue on a journey with no actual goal, no real thought to the greater threat at hand or even preparing for the eventuality of something going awry and instead you keep going along a straight unbroken path expecting things to turn out well in the end, which requires either some random event, awakening of a previously unknown power, or you and your friends somehow pulling off what can almost be considered a miracle out of nowhere to save yourselves. Honestly, if Jaune is the example of wasted potential, then you Ruby are more in line with squandered potential, heck the only real reason you have such skill and power is almost entirely related to your existence as a Silver Eyed warrior, which basically means you are personally blessed by the God of Light, which is about the same as being made the designated hero in some random fantasy story, and even then you are essentially a low level warrior in comparison to the first generation of the Silver-eyed warriors, not even Maria Calevera was ever at that level and she was a literal legend, and yet all of them have a limiter in their mind that causes them to value the lives of humans and faunas too much, giving them a disadvantage against opponents that are not Grimm, which Salem exploited to the fullest in order to wipe them out, never mind the fact that she could personally do the deed herself easily since the God of Light's immortal curse essential rendered the Silver Eyed warriors only real power useless against her. You were given so much Ruby, so very many chances and gifts that allowed you to reach your dream, but at the end of the day you are still the idealistic little girl that grew up on fairy tales and no real idea of how truly horrible your world even is while still being sheltered and babied by those around you, honestly …"  
**

"… **why were you even made the main character."**

Ruby never felt more hurt in her life than being told how little she really meant, actually weeping at the fact that she couldn't really deny what Sybil had said, as she had seen herself in the Prime reality, and realized that in the end that Sybil was right, she was only truly special due to being a Silver-Eyed warrior, how little she actually changed throughout the course of the journey, with only her physical appearance actually changing, and that Jaune Arc, the boy who desired to be a huntsman so badly and earnestly that it was essentially his goal in life was made into a simple side character while she herself was the one who got all of the actual action and development while Jaune was largely just stuck in the background, and Ruby knew that Jaune had the makings of a real huntsman yet seemed to always be stuck in the background as support without ever being given a real chance to develop and grow. The group on the other hand were more than a bit upset at Sybil talking badly about Ruby, and Yang then got up, ready to confront Sybil, and Ruby wanted to stop her but Yang was already up and ready to tell the AI off for what she said about her sister.

"You little shit, how DARE YOU TA-!"

SCHKOOOOMM-BAAMM

"GUUHHH!"

In a second, just as Yang was ready to throw a punch at Sybil (which would have done nothing since Sybil was a hologram), a loud shot echoed through the room, and Yang was left hunched over in pain, a rather large rubber object deeply embedded in her right side just above her hips and below her ribcage, the object peeling away from Yang's deeply bruised side and falling to the ground, revealing the object to be the head of a rubber bullet, specifically the type fired from a grenade launcher, and the group saw a grenade launcher turret just a bit behind Sybil that smoked slightly from the shot.

Yang collapsed to the ground, now feeling for once in her life, without an Aura to heal or protect her, the intense pain that all regular non-aura using people have to suffer when they get hurt or injured, and she found the pain to be outright crippling, and could hardly move from where she was collapsed on the ground. The rest of the group were left stunned at seeing Yang go down and writhing on the ground in pain, then were left horrified as they heard the grenade launcher turret, the automatic grenade launcher turret, prepare to fire its next round, and saw five more turrets come from floor and ceiling, with one of the turrets behind them. Sybil herself just had an impassive look on her face as she stared down to the writhing form of Yang Xiao Long, who then had a ring of light with a green cross hovering above it appear around her, now slowly healing the injury caused by the rubber bullet.

"**The rest of you have even less reason to chastise either Ozpin or myself for our actions, choices or opinions, in fact most of you have so little moral ground to stand on that for many of you it's a miracle that the ground has yet to fall out from under you," **Sybil coldly stated before turning her head to Wiess, who was now a bit afraid of the AI.

"**Wiess Schnee, heir apparent to the Schnee Dust Company, you went to Beacon to become a huntsman not to become a pillar for the people or to go out and save the lives of others, but instead try to follow in the footsteps of one of the few people who actually tried to help Mantle and Remnant, but also give hope to both human and faunas kind, Nicholas Schnee, your Grandfather and one of the few people on Remnant that deserve respect. Yet not only do you cling to your spiteful fathers hateful ideals and beliefs even when he is miles away in Atlas, you also delude yourself into thinking that you are actually special and deserve to be treated as such while relying on wealth that belonged to the company and your father, and fame that came from the SDC and had nothing to actually do with you besides you being part of its founding family, honestly I am left wondering why you thought Jaune Arc was after you for your name and wealth even though he didn't even know who you were at the time, yet gave attention to a blatant womanizer like Neptune Vasilias, which all but screams to me that it is not only your mother that is a terrible judge of character, honestly Weiss Schnee, what is wrong with you," **Sybils words cut like a heated knife, as Wiess was literally torn apart by the girl who all but knew her whole life, and none of what she said so far had been incorrect, making her feel horrible.

"**Blake Belladonna, daughter of Ghira and Kali Belladonna, the former head of the once peaceful White Fang and his wife, both of whom loved you and wished a better life for you, and both of whom you turned your back on while calling them cowards to go and join an organization that had become a warped shadow of its former self, and actively participated in the White Fangs terrorist activities, only to end up running away when you finally realized that the group you once though so highly of became a true terrorist organization with only violence and pain to its name, and then deluding yourself with the idea that you could bring it back by again running away from it, then going through very much stupid and blatantly hypocritical idea of becoming a huntress to help the faunas while hiding the fact that you yourself are a faunas and a former terrorist, which could lead so many people to the conclusion of you being a White Fang spy or worse considering that you were on the same team as one of the White Fangs main targets. The fact that you, a person who helped in acts of destruction and violence, also tried to dissuade those same actions while still supporting them through your very presence in the White Fang, did you not once try to think why the White Fang really wanted to keep you with them, the daughter of the former leader, which to all faunas is the same as saying that the White Fang is still being supported by its founder even after it was radicalized. The fact that even after you left, you continued to hide who you were even after you revealed not only your faunas heritage but your ties to the White Fang to your team, including one of the few on Remnant with legitimate anger against the White Fang and its actions by some miracle forgave you for your lies and past, yet it wasn't until the very end when the city of Vale had all but fallen apart that you finally decided to reveal who you were, and only after it had basically stopped mattering anymore after again running away from your problems. Honestly Blake, I am happy that you develop some courage later on, but honestly, all of your problems beforehand could have been avoided if you simply developed some spine, but you didn't, bad things happened later on, and you were left to pick up the pieces of your failings, nice job you cowardly sociopath,"** if Blake hadn't been feeling like shit before, she was certainly feeling it now, and admitted to the fact that almost every problem she had usually had her running away from her troubles, and she was quite proud of the herself from the Prime Reality for getting over the problem, and hoped she would be like her.

"**Yang, oh where to start with you, a mass of anger, issues and insecurities. Your main form of negotiation is that either the other side agrees with you or they get beaten into agreeing with you, with only those you recognize as real friends or family being the only people to at least dissuade you from your actions, not that it stops you from recklessly charging into the problem anyway, which will either somehow make things better which largely is not the case or end up causing more problems which is usually the case. The honest truth is that you should be glad that your mother left you alone, otherwise Remnant would have to suffer not only the Bandit Queen but the Bandit Princess as well, and don't say it wouldn't happen, because your already violent temperament and strong propensity towards violence and confrontation already speak volumes of the danger you can bring to others, if your real mother had raised you and not Summer or Taiyang, you would already be plastered on every wanted poster in Anima and beyond with a bounty on your head that would rival Ravens own, heck its only because of the protection that's given to huntsmen and huntsmen-in-training and a very disproportionate amount of benefits and protections that honestly make the occupation out as far more corrupt and mercenary than any of you know, no lie, that is the reason why you are not already under arrest due to the multiple acts of destruction and damage committed by yourself and other huntsmen, such as your destruction of a local club and the devastation that you, your team, and two guys who honestly have little in the way of importance caused to an entire freeway full of innocent civilians that the show horrifically under stated given how many cars full of people that all likely had no aura's were destroyed in your chase against Roman in a Paladin. Then you have the gall to call Ozpin a liar for something that was so difficult to describe much less talk about when you lied to your whole group regarding you mother being the Spring Maiden, and how about before regarding being out to clubs that we both know you shouldn't have even been near and this not even going into the multiple acts of violence that you end up causing when you are out and about, acts I know of thanks to seeing more of what happens behind the scenes in the RWBY realities and beyond, seeing how you end up causing a disproportionate of harm for even the most minor infractions, heck in one reality you put a man in the hospital, yes the man was a bit perverted but shattering his dominant arm and breaking his ribs is pretty fucking disproportionate," **a screen showing Yang's actions, including her unnecessarily brutal beating and hospitalization of the man caused the group to blanch and look at Yang, who was still trying to recover from being shot with a rubber bullet, was left with her friends horrified at several violent beatdowns and the moments where she brutally lashed at minor slights against herself, the looks of horror she got from not just her team and the others but from Ruby as well hurt her deeper than any beating she had taken or would likely ever take.

"**Ren and Nora, this will likely be the shortest of the problems I have with you all, and surprisingly its mostly from Ren that the problem stems. Nora, you had a horrible beginning, you were an orphan on the streets trying to survive the day, and Ren was the one who you found a meaningful path in life with, but honestly it would have helped if you could have at least helped make his path in life broader instead of the narrow, almost dead end path he chose for himself. Ren, I will tell you this, your life is your own and you can choose whatever path you wish to take, but even you should be aware that your path in life could have only ended in emptiness and pain in the end. It's the reason why I believe that you deserve to be at Beacon even less than that Jaune, heck less than Cardin since at least he had broader goals after graduating, all you wanted from becoming a huntsman was the worst thing that any person would want as their goal, revenge. You only joined beacon and went through initiation and the curriculum just to use it to kill the Grimm that destroyed your home, the Nuckelavee, and that was it, no plans after, no higher goal, just kill that particular Grimm and that's it, nothing else. Honestly Ren, Jaune Arc may have faked his way into Beacon Academy but at least he had an actual goal to strive towards, you got in with the paperwork and skills but it was all for a goal that would have caused all of that effort and skill to amount to nothing in the end if you hadn't met your team and team RWBY," **Ren said nothing, he knew he couldn't since Sybil was right, he had gone to Beacon focused entirely on his revenge, in fact the reason he did not chastise Jaune when his transcripts came to light was that Jaune actually had a real reason to be a huntsman while he did not have such a reason. Nora held Ren's hand but did not comment as she knew that Ren had gone to Remnant for revenge but knew that Ren had at least gotten better thanks to Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby, Blake, Yang and Weiss.

Then Sybil looked at Pyrrha, and still wore a frown, but it had softened and made Sybil look more disappointed than angry.

"**Pyrrha, it's not so much what you did do than what you didn't do that makes me upset with you. You first allowed yourself to be taken in by your fame and success, allowing yourself to fully believe you were the 'invincible girl' that those around you claimed, and thus never improving yourself beyond your current skillset, never tried to grow your abilities and strengths beyond what you had as a tournament fighter, which ended up leading to you facing your first disadvantageous opponent which ended up leading to your death in that battle. Honestly, the primary reason why Ozpin made Jaune Arc the leader of your team and not you is that you had experience in fighting but not in teamwork, you know how to work alone but not with others, in fact a few worlds show that if you had not partnered with Jaune the results range from you dying from the elder Deathstalker to you succeeding but facing all the problems that follow with you dying later on or living but losing almost everything else along the way, heck in one reality you became the world's hero but lost everything that meant something to you in the end, but you ended up with Jaune Arc in that reality after he became a farmer, and you also became one after choosing to leave everything in your old life behind, finding the happiness that you had always desired. The one thing I can agree with Pyrrha, is that you should have told Jaune your feelings as soon as you knew they were real, the only reason Jaune didn't say anything was that he thought that you were simply too great of person for someone like him, and his attempts to court Weiss were mostly due to her looks and talents, which honestly ended during the dance when Weiss was with Neptune, it was literally the perfect opportunity, but instead the time you choose to tell him your feelings, which he would have honestly reciprocated, was when you went off to die against Cinder, leaving Jaune emotionally devastated and causing him to only make friendship based relationships and abandon romance since he never wanted to experience loss of such a level again, which almost happened with his first crush being almost killed by the same person who killed his first, and tragically brief, love. You're a good fighter Pyrrha, but not a great one, and your skills at everything else, especially relationships, needs some severe work, though whether we meet Jaune Arc again is entirely up to whatever force is currently severing the connection to your reality," **Sybil's words struck deep into Pyrrha, having seen what her death caused not only to the man she loved, but even her own mother, she vowed to get stronger, to not hold back anymore and rid herself of the idea of being the 'Invincible Girl' that she had deluded herself as. Then she would hopefully find Jaune when the (hopefully) returned to their original reality, and she would confess to him, tell him her feelings for him and hope that he accepts them.

The room lit back up, and the healing ring around Yang finished its task as Yang's injury had faded away, and she got up into her seat, the turrets mostly trained on her, and the exposure of some of her less talked about actions, all the while Sybil continued speaking.

"**So now you know, the ultimate reason why Ozpin to keep his secrets, why he became such a person, and why there is really no one who can pass any real judgment on a person who is honestly trying to perform what is basically an impossible task, the task of trying to unite a stupidly divided world, one that should have already been united by the obvious threat of the murderous beasts that roam the world, but instead remain divided for and fighting amongst itself even with monsters tearing at their walls and threatening their lives. In fact I can honestly say with no biased feelings, rather that something wrong with Ozpin, I am left wondering what is wrong with the sentient races of Remnant, do they want things to get better, or do they just want to keep making more problems for themselves and others rather than try to make things better, with those who want things to be better being a number that is at most in the triple digits, which is a very horrible thing, honestly what is wrong with your world," **Sybil calmed herself, having vented what she needed to at the group, then returned to her mainly calm demeanor and a then pointed to the passageway that had just appeared in the wall, **"this path will take us to the housing sector currently being used by Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, Ironwood and Winter, with Mirai currently looking over them as they - … it appears that there is a bit of an issue that is currently developing in that sector, with Qrow and Mirai apparently having a bit of a disagreement that is getting a bit … confrontational."**

The moment this was heard, Ruby got up and rushed to the passageway with Yang following close behind, the rest of the group following the two as the moved to where their uncle, host and the others were.

* * *

"Qrow, I suggest you get yourself under control before you do something you both regret and that I make you regret," Mirai talked in an even and controlled tone, trying to talk down the enraged man as he tried to strike her in the face with his fist in anger …

… only for thin wires and cables that emerged from the floor, ceiling and walls to wrap around his entire form, leaving him immobilized in place, and glaring angrily at rely and shouted out, "TAKE BACK WHAT YOU SAID, AND THEN I CAN START CALMING DOWN."

Your only driving the point home, and it isn't my fault that you cannot handle the cold hearted truth," Mirai stated to Qrow, still looking impassively at him, "and trying to attack the person who is 'the bastard who tricked me into working for him', who ironically was also the person who not only gave you a means of having a stable life, friends and loved ones, but also allowed you to be part of something greater than yourself and at least opened your eyes to what is truly happening in your world, which he only told you after you and your sister essentially swore an oath to help keep the people, who you already swore to protect, safer with an bonus, not that I expect a former bandit and brother of a 'Bandit Queen' to understand such a concept as 'protecting others'," Mirai made no attempt to hide her animosity of Qrow's origins and his sister and tribe, with Qrow then becoming quite defensive at Mirai's words, due to being compared to his sister who went back to the tribe of murders and thieves that he had left from.

"I know what I left behind, I know what would have happened if Ozpin hadn't found me and Rae, but this, THIS, the fact that Salem cant die, the fact that I have been part of losing war all this time, the fact that I lost the closest thing I had to a real sister because of Ozpin," Qrow then glared at the man, who could only stare at his own mug, the secrets he had hidden laid bare for all to see, and now those who stood by him through so much now regarded him with wary and judging gazes, and Qrow then let his anger be known, "the me from that reality was right, meeting you, believing in you, and actually putting my faith in you, that was the most unluckiest thing that ever happened to me."

These words struck Ozpin deep, and the looks of Ironwood and Glynda at the news did not help matters, and Winter, who was left shocked by what she had seen, directed her gaze at what was (perceived) as the source of all the problems that Remnant was now facing.

The mood in the room got heavier in the room, and Ozpin felt worse …

… until …

WHABAAM

"GAAAAHHH"

The group then turned to see Qrow with a deep impact mark on his face, his arms with deep red marks and light cuts from the impact pulling the strings and cables and Mirai with her fist still outstretched, having obviously punched Qrow **hard** in the face.

"Sorry about that Qrow, for a brief moment you started to resemble Raven Branwen, to a very uncomfortable degree I might add," Mirai stated as she curled and flexed her hand after the hit, "this is the main reason I have problems with Branwen's and those descended from them, they always give in to their hatred and anger so easily, makes them nothing but assholes to deal with, especially how they always think they are right even when they are wrong, idiots all of them, including you Qrow."

"Ooowww, damn that hurts, what the he-heck is your problem."

The doorway opened and Ruby was the first in, Yang close behind while still feeling the pain of the rubber bullet, and the rest of RWBY along with NPR came in, and appearing in the middle of the room was Sybil, though Qrow, Ironwood, Glynda, Winter and Ozpin were all in the dark regarding her, until Mirai addressed her.

"Sybil, I take it that the members of your group have been made aware of the happenings of their reality, at least one of the very real dangers that Remnant faces should a certain danger be made known as well as your Grievances regarding their own personal issues," stated Mirai to Sybil who simply nodded in return.

"Good, at least that issue has been dealt with, though now I have to deal with the problem happening," Mirai stated as she turned back to Qrow and the older group, with Ruby and Yang going to Qrow.

"Uncle Qrow, are you okay," Ruby asked, worried.

"Yeah kid, agh, ow that was a solid hit, jeez I get why you hate my sister and my former **family**, but seriously, ow," Qrow rubbed the welt on his face, and a healing ring came up around him, healing the injury away, "ahh, that feels better, but seriously, why are you siding with him, he basically lied to all of us his entire life, the whole thing about him having nothing to do with Salem, that she is the one that caused him to be cursed like he was, hell even about what the relics are for, for all he's been hiding many more things from us, what else could he be lying about, why are you standing up for him."

Mirai looked around the room, all eyes now on her, though not so much for the younger group, who were already given a rather strong roasting by Sybil regarding their own reasons not to really speak against Ozpin's actions much, though they still did not agree with his actions.

"There are actions that Ozpin has taken in his life that very few can ever accept and I now that you all who live in what is largely a peaceful time in remnant's history would immediately see fault in Ozpins actions," the group then felt a strong pressure from Mirai as she then had several holo-screens appear, and on each one was an image of different men who appeared to be from different time periods, but the groups had seen the Prime reality and knew who the individuals were, "what you seemed to forget was that the man you know of as Ozpin is but the latest in a long line of individuals, the man you know of having been re-incarnated again and again over countless years as a new individual, a new person each and every time, and should Ozpin meet his end as you have seen happen, he would be reborn into the boy named Oscar as per the reincarnations power, a power that the original soul, Ozma, has no control over since the power was conceived by the Brother God of Creation, a god that left out the fact that when Ozma reincarnates, it would involve overtaking the body of an individual with a similar spiritual essence to himself, and Ozma's soul merging with the bodies original soul becoming an entirely different person altogether, with the exception of his first incarnation, in which the God of Creation basically shunted Ozma into the body of a random man and completely overwrote his soul and left Ozma horrified at the fact that his first incarnation had essentially led to the death of his first incarnations soul, which the God of Creation just did on a whim, and was directly responsible for both horror of Ozma's first incarnation and many of the other problems faced by Ozma and now Ozpin later down the line."

Mirai then switched the screens to show several images from the RWBY series, and then turned to Ozpin (Ozma?), "I am afraid Ozpin that I will now be forced to dredge up some painful memories of from your past, but I will have to in order to make everyone here aware of the full scope of why you became who you are now, which I unfortunately know through … 'personal experience' as well as seeing others from many realities who have gone through similar or worst circumstances than you are right now Ozpin, for that I can only apologize, but it must happen," Mirai stated as the screens then came up, and showed several scenes from the past that the group had witnessed from the show, all being scenes regarding Ozpin's past as Ozma and the transition through his many incarnations.

"So, you know Ozpin as he is now, as the man who leads Beacon Academy, the fight against the 'Grimm Queen' who you now know is neither truly Grimm nor their actual Queen, and also chosen by the true creators of Remnant and all that is upon it to unite Mankind and prove their right to survive by the ones who created them," Mirai continued on as the group acknowledged this fact, "all of you are aware of this, and now you yourselves judge Ozpin for his manipulations, decisions, and the actions he has taken throughout the past in his battle against a woman who was once the love of his life and his wife in the past, now become a villain and a monster by what you perceive as Ozpins actions in the past, and the hardships you are set to face regarding the actions of Salem and her associates are due to Ozpins initial actions in the past with his attempt to try and make Salem understand the gravity of the situation, and then trying to leave with his children in the middle of the night only to be caught by his wife, leading to a horrifically destructive battle that resulted in the deaths of his children, destruction of the castle they lived in, his own death and Salem then swearing her vengeance on Ozma by making his mission to unite humanity fail and essentially bring about the end of all things through her Grimm," Mirai then got a very deep thinking look as the group was now looking at Ozpin with some deeply judgmental gazes, then Mirai continued, "taking all of what I saw and all other pieces of information that I got from Remnant, the percentage of Ozpins involvement in the current plight of Remnant out of 100 percent is about …"

"… 20 percent."

The group then turned to Mirai, some incredulous looks on their faces as she basically stated that Ozpin only had a (relatively) small impact on what had happened to Remnant, and the threat that they face.

"As to the remaining 80 percent of why Remnant is what it is, then the percentage of blame for why your world suffers is as follows, 20 percent also goes to Salem herself, 20 percent also goes to brother gods themselves who made Salem, either directly or indirectly, into the threat you all know of now," Mirai then looked at the group and stated the last part in a much more serious tone, "as to the last 40 percent of why Remnant is in a state of crisis now, that is the answer you will all like the least, for the fault of why Remnant is doomed to suffer such a catastrophe and why everything on Remnant is in such a sad state, the fault of all of that …"

"… belongs to the rest of Remnant, to the Kingdoms and the people, and only a small part going to the Grimm, barely 5 percent for the Grimm in fact."

"WHAT!"

The response was resounding from the rest of the group, all of whom were shocked that Mirai had just said that the reason why things were so bad on Remnant was because of the kingdoms and people, and Mirai continued on, a silencing glare coming up, as she then went on with her explanation.

"You already know what Ozpin has done, and the reasons he took the actions he did, and of course the mistakes he made in his quest to unite the world of Remnant, and to many of you he is seen as a main cause for why the world is as it is, which forces me to say … ARE YOU ALL THAT FUCKING STUPID, AND RUBY ONE WORD INVOLVING ME SWEARING AND THERE WILL BE A RUBBER BULLET WITH YOU NAME ON IT LODGED IN YOUR STOMACH!"

Ruby was about to say what she says to keep people from saying 'bad words' and keeping things clean, only remaining quiet due to having been deeply chastised earlier and the fact that what was said about had not been entirely untrue, as well as the threat of getting shot with a rubber bullet like her sister. Now again she found herself quiet as several automatic grenade launcher turrets appeared from the ceiling and walls, with one aimed squarely at her, a red laser pointer aimed at her torso where her stomach was.

"… meep …" was all Ruby said, hoping not to get a gut shot.

"Now onto Salem, the person who is more directly responsible for the current state of Remnant after bringing about the events leading to the destruction of the original magic-using, civilization that originally inhabited Remnant and then taking a deep dip in the God of Destructions pool of Annihilation and turning into the immortal Grimm Queen that threatens Remnant now," Mirai then pulled up to holo-panels, one showing the past Salem and the other the current Salem, "obviously she ended up becoming a monster, but was not one in the beginning, and many of the decisions she made can be chalked up to grief, sorrow, despair and anger, as well as not really having the stable mind and common sense of a person who wasn't locked away by an abusive asshole of a father, much less a violent tyrant who ruled with fear and violence. Then we have the decisions she made all the way up to the present, and the biggest disaster she made was to literally try and go against the very creators of her world, the brother gods, trying to pit them against each other, and then trying to lead a rebellion against them both all based on a lie she made up herself to sway a bunch of idiot rulers to follow her obviously suicidal crusade, and causing said creators to destroy the world she knew. Then there is her present self, and honestly the Grimm version of herself would have become the enemy of the world one way or another, her Grimm physique, magic, immortality and her own temperament would have led her to violence against the humans of the current Remnant even if Ozma was never reincarnated, at least with him the world actually stood a chance when, not if, 'when' she went violent against the world considering how humans and faunas would normally react to the idea of an intelligent and sentient monster of destruction as well the Grimm's natural impulse for destruction that was now permeating her mind. Then there was when Ozma ended up splitting with Salem, leading to their ugly separation, in which Ozma realized that the Salem of now and the one he loved in the past were in fact not the same, and that Salem's idea to unite the world was to essentially make herself and Ozma 'gods' in the eyes of the people, which considering Ozma's mission from the Brother Gods could have led to the brother gods destroying Remnant anyway upon their return and finding the people of Remnant worshipping Ozma and Salem would easily lead to a very nasty response from the two, and that is discounting the fact that Salem intended to meet any sort of problem to her and Ozma's position with violence and death really helped to make Ozma's decision to get himself and his daughters away from the person who he knew was no longer the woman he loved much clearer. Then there is the final point of her actions in the present, and how she could have made things so much worse for Remnant if her anger was not entirely focused on Ozpin, for if she chose to simply to attack humanity and the Faunas outright by inciting the Grimm, then there is an 80 to 90 percent chance that humanity and faunas kind would be rendered extinct, especially if she awoke the most powerful of all the Grimm, the Champions."

"Wa-wait, 'Champions'," it was Ironwood who asked the question, with everyone also wondering what Mirai was referring to when she mentioned the Grimm having 'Champions', "exactly what are these Grimm 'Champions', are they like the Wyvern and Leviathan that we saw in the … Prime-view of our world," Ironwood finished, the others looking at Mirai, and were attentive when she shook her head and began explaining.

"No, they are worst, and thankfully Ironwood, they are all still hibernating, at least until they get a real wakeup call or a certain 'Grimm Queen' decides to wake them up, which she hasn't done yet since even she thinks they are too much for even her to handle, let that sink in, even Salem has doubts about waking them up or even controlling them," this made the group really pay attention, and even Ozpin was now attentively focused on what Mirai talked about in regards to any threats to the world, especially one that Salem was doubtful of, which was both worrying and terrifying in his mind.

"In the most simplest terms, Grimm Champions are basically ancient and elder type Grimm … from the first era of humanity, Grimm from the era of magic, Grimm that at the time were so strong that they were a serious and terrifying threat to the first eras humanity, a humanity that **ALL** wielded magic, not five people, everyone. The Grimm Champions are the Grimm from that era who survived into the current era with all the strength and intelligence they gained from fighting the magic-users of the first era, and you all saw how powerful magic was to the current world of Remnant, the Grimm Champions had fought and even won against magic users whose powers easily put the magic of the 'Seasonal Maidens' to absolute shame and are on par with Salem and Ozma in terms of magical might, and ahead of them in terms of strength and speed," Mirai's explanation had caused a deep and horrifying realization to come to every one of the group, all of them now becoming very terrified at the thought of Grimm that could kill magic users wandering Remnant, and were left with a deep sense of fear at ever having to face such a terrifying threat ever.

The group then turned to Ozpin … and were stunned into silence as they all saw in his eyes what they never thought they would see …

… **FEAR!**

Ozpins hand was tightly gripping his new mug, shuddering as his eyes were wide and dilated, his gaze now focused on something no one could see, something that made worry and dread come to Ozpins face as his breath became shallow and rapid, the grip he had on his cane iron-tight and a cold sweat coming from his forehead.

"He's remembering Ozma's memories, likely the memories of Ozma's battles against the Grimm of the past, battles that likely almost cost Ozma his life," Mirai stated to the group, and leaving the group fearful of what Ozpin was remembering from Ozma's past, and what terrifying monsters could have been so powerful as to leave Ozpin in such a state.

"You do not know how blessed most Remnants in the multiverse have been that Salem never chose to awaken the greatest of Remnants monsters, the Grimm Champions, and it's not only because she has no means of controlling them or because she wants to keep them hidden as a powerful backup, no … it's because these Grimm, the Grimm Champions **KNOW** who she really is, they know that she is not a real Grimm, they know that she was originally human and from the past, and more terrifying off all, they were there at Salem's punishment and remember their creator, the God of Destruction punishing her and even her transformation into her current form, the Grimm Champions witnessed all of it, and they will never be commanded or controlled by her … ever," Mirai stated plainly and bluntly to the group, leaving them with the knowledge that the most powerful Grimm on Remnant were ones that Salem could not command or control.

"Apologies, we are getting a bit off track, the next point to cover would be the Brother Gods themselves, and honestly it's not much of a stretch to blame them for a vast majority of the problems that Remnant faces, Salem's creation, the annihilation of the first humanity, and making Ozpin the man he is now by essentially giving him an 'impossible task' that even now haunts him, and let's not forget the fact that one of them created the monsters that now threaten your world and lives, so yeah not exactly the ideal beings that most thought they were and also are far from ever being perfect, though I guess that's more of what they believe rather than them actually being perfect." Mirai gathered herself up and then explained her gripes against the brother gods, which the group attentively listened to regarding knowing of the beings that created them and their world. "I will say this straight, the brother gods are, in literal honesty, completely immature in regard to their decisions, with most of their actions having a naturally selfish intent behind them, and of course given the fact that they are deities of a high order, their actions can instantly cause drastic changes to the world around themselves, and then there is the rather glaring issue of how the issue involving Salem happened, with a simple woman using a very simple trick to cause them to come to blows with one another, and also destroying all of humanity rather than informing their worshippers of Salem's crime against them, which would have likely avoided the whole destruction of humanity event in its entirety, yet they said nothing. What I am about to tell you has been confirmed by the research and findings of multiple individuals that have made forays into the multiverse and have come to discover many of the greatest secrets that lie behind the veil of all realities, with one of those secrets … being the age system of the divine level entities that exist throughout reality, and through this have discovered the real age of the gods of many realities, including the Brother Gods, and through this came to understand the reasoning behind their actions through this fact, do you want to know what it is, what your gods really are."

"Tell us, please," it was Ozpin who said this, wishing to know anything about the beings that gave him his overwhelming task, and the others were also attentive at learning something regarding the beings who created their world.

"By what we found, the age of the god of destruction is about 10 million years old, and the age of the god of creation is at about 14 million," the group reacted with mild shock at the fact that the gods of their world were at such an advanced age that none of them could really imagine, not even Ozpin, but Mirai then drew their attention as she then explained in greater detail what she wanted to say, "while such an age difference may be something that humans could never come close to or imagine, the god are not human or really derived from humanity or Faunas for that matter. The truth is that the age system of the gods is immensely different in many ways, and that includes the rate of how gods mature, develop their moral basis and even their own knowledge base, and what we discovered is that the measurement of age in divine beings is drastically separate from mortal age measurement. As we studied, it was found that it would take countless years for a mortal race like humans and faunas to make up a whole year for a race like deities like the brother gods, and it is from this gathered knowledge that we have discerned the exact measurement of the aging system of the divines, discovering that in fact …"

"… 1 year for a god is **1 MILLION YEARS** for a human."

The entire group took in this information, and they thought about this fact …

… the thought really hard, and their eyes widened as they came to the very eye-opening realization.

"Yes, the gods age of 10 million and 14 million years for humans, is only **10 **and **14** years for gods, and in the gods age system, the brother gods are literally **children**, this has been proven time and again by observing multiple deities in multiple realities, including other RWBY derived realities, and through this discovered one of the rather damning truths regarding the creators of your world," Mirai finished, allowing the group to absorb the knowledge …

… the absolutely **shocking **bit of knowledge that the Mighty, all-powerful Gods that created and forged their world, the beings of unimaginable knowledge and power that they had all come to know … were in fact **children**!

"Wh-WHAT, bu-but they spoke like grown men, and they looked all grown up and adult-like when we saw them, h-how is it possible that they are -!"

Ruby was cut off by Mirai, who then showed on a holo-screen the image of two simple humanoid figures that one would find on a sign representing a person, one black on white, and from the two figures stretched two long lines, also black and white, and after stretching a long distance, they both ended at a sphere, one black and one white and both linked to the figure of their respective color. The spheres then proceeded to warp and ripple, until the spheres were molded into the shapes of two individuals, individuals that the people of the room had become very acquainted with, Ozpin especially. Then from the very familiar figures, came several spheres, all showing different colors, though the ones linked to the dark figure were largely dark in nature, and the other had spheres that were lightly colored.

"The second truth regarding the brother gods is the fact that humanity never truly saw their real form, and in a matter of fact, their real bodies were only present on Remnant when they first brought their power into the world that led to its creation, but afterward they completely departed Remnant, and in their place they left behind what can be called Avatars. An Avatar is in fact the physical manifestation of a deities presence on the world they are part of, with the Avatar just being a sort of metaphysical body created by the god or deity in a way that allows them to directly exercise their power over physical reality, and the Avatar body itself is designed and molded into existence by the God itself, who can basically make the Avatar into whatever they want it to be, such as the form of featureless horned humanoids or large draconic creatures, things like that. To put it more simply, the Brother Gods that you witnessed in the viewing are most likely or are in fact **fake** bodies that the real Brother Gods just use to form into reality while the **real** bodies of the Brother Gods are very far away in a very unreachable place, bodies that I can assure you are very much less impressive by a large margin than the ones you have seen," Mirai finished that statement and the group were left quite stunned at this little piece of information, and also left wondering what the Brother Gods of Remnant truly looked like, Ozpin was especially curious to know exactly what the true forms of the beings that created not only Remnant but the world it was before.

"So, in a nutshell, the reason for the Gods of Remnant not really caring much about Remnant or its current state is largely due to the current immature nature of the gods that created your reality, and while they possess a immense amount of knowledge that was likely from more elder deities, they have yet to develop the mindset needed to truly make use of that knowledge, and thus the current state of affairs is what it is, which unfortunately is par for the course for most gods and deities in the multiverse, and by most I mean almost all, many of whom have done far worse, no lie. Also, one final nugget of truth regarding the brother gods, Remnant was the first world they were given to use their power and abilities to create, remake or destroy as they need in order to grasp the concepts of creating, guiding, and ensuring the survival of a civilization, or to put it bluntly, your world was set up as the Brother Gods first attempt at creating and overseeing their own world, their own little experiment to set the base for any future endeavors that would end up coming about after they have done what they needed to with Remnant, and after they finish their time with Remnant and actually succeed, then they will either rule  
Remnant to the very end of its time, or they will leave to create other worlds, either together or separately, and continue on with creating or destroying as is their concept. Honestly, for those two, it can either go positively or negatively for them, and like most deities that exist, they usually never own up to what they have done or the damage that they end up creating, with the usual excuse that 'the affairs of mortals mean little to the divine' or some bullshit like that … though the times where their actions do catch up to them, pretty much ends up going very, very, **VERY** badly for them," Mirai had a very sadistic smirk on her face as she seemed to be remembering something regarding the brother gods that caused quite a few of the group to break out in a sweat at what she may be thinking regarding bad things happening to the brother gods.

"Well that covers Salem and the Brother Gods, now all that is left is regarding the remaining 40 percent of the reason for Remnants problems, which centers around the current civilization of Remnant and the society of the world in general, and sorry to say this but the list of issues is quite substantial and I am going to be saying some very vicious but true things regarding the kingdoms of Remnant, so my apologies to the more patriotic individuals here, but I am going to have to tear down quite a lot of things regarding your kingdoms," Miria stated to them, all watching as holo-screens appeared, and on them appeared the kingdoms of Remnant, including Menagerie, "yes, I consider Menagerie as much a part of the Kingdoms as the kingdoms themselves, regardless of what any of you believe."

The screen shifted, and it soon showed the nation that much of the group were very familiar with … VALE.

"Let us start first with the kingdom where your reality first started from, Vale. In the broad scheme of things, I can say Vale is not a bad place to live, the citizens are largely peaceful, and the state of the kingdom appears to be largely prosperous, though I said it appears to be. The Kingdom has enjoyed a long amount of relative peace bar the Grimm and errant crime, though that same peace had made the kingdom largely complacent and stagnated its development, both in its means of protecting itself and spreading outward, with all real development going to Beacon Academy and the huntsmen while the rest of the Kingdoms forces were left to languish in both training and equipment, in fact as you all saw from the show, the local police force, the people who are supposed to keep the city safe from criminal threats largely end up being useless in the show, especially when faced with severe threats like criminal huntsmen or terrorist forces, and by that I mean Roman Torchwick, Neopolitan and the White Fang, and yet for some reason Huntsmen are never brought in to aid the police, which I have to guess is the Council attempting to save face by trying and failing to show that its forces could handle the issues posed by the criminal elements without having to rely on huntsmen and huntresses, which I see as a pretty stupid move on the part of the council as I am sure Ozpin would at least be able to send more veteran students to deal with such an issue as third and fourth year huntsmen are trained to fight such threats, yet the Vale council instead chose to let the issue grow worse, with the belief that Atlas would help in the end being turned against them due to Atlas's arrival being part of the plan that had been brewing for so long. Then there is the issues that came about from Vales lack of expansion, as it only had three real cities and a large island town to its name, with the Kingdom just calling it quits and giving up on expanding into its territory altogether rather than learning from the mistake and trying again with a smarter approach, trial and error have been the hallmarks of all human progress, and what Vale did was to bury the problem and try to forget it rather than learn from it and do something else, like maybe do thorough reconnaissance so that they don't build a city essentially on top of a Titan-class Grimm, like the Wyvern that literally came out of Mount Glenn. Though the worst thing about Vale in my opinion is not what it is, rather it's what it could have been, Vale could have become a major power, it could have developed multiple cities and even developed the means to not only clear the Grimm out of much of their territory, but even killed the Wyvern very early on, and this time I can not defend Ozpin this time as this was one of his biggest mistakes in his past life, specifically when he himself was the last king of Vale, as you saw during the Prime-realities viewing, as it showed him as a king with a crown and regal clothing, that was him as the last king of Vale, surprising huh," Mirai's words surprised the younger members of the group, who were stunned to learn that Ozpin was Vale's last king and the man who ended the great war, though the ones who were in the know from the beginning had known of his past lives and that he was once the last king of Vale, though they did not really try to comment, "as for the issue I have, it's the fact that Ozpin had the means to make the world a more united place, but unfortunately ended up trusting humanity a little too much rather than make a more stable governing system that placed at least a stronger means of control over the governing systems of the kingdoms to at least keep things more stable and allow for more open relations between the kingdoms, since when the kingdoms went back to governing themselves, it was Vale that actually tried to maintain the ideals of its last king, but as you saw, it was not enough, though at least Vale had other cities that it could rely on, and in all honesty, all Vale has to do to start rebuilding is kill the Wyvern and stop the flow of Grimm, then it can rebuild itself and hopefully learn from its mistakes rather than forget them. That basically covers Mistral, which is honestly the better off of the four Kingdoms, though if different decisions had been made, it could have been so much more, but oh well."

The screen shifted, and this time it focused on the continent of Anima, and its kingdom, Mistral.

"Ahh, the Kingdom of Art, Culture, and Theater, the Kingdom that is famous for all the neat and pretty things in the world, Mistral. It is quite the nice place, and its people greatly value nature and their desire to freely express themselves, which is sadly offset by the darker side of its culture, a darker side that I can assure you has been a source for many of Remnants more insidious persons, especially a certain Grimm Queen who has drawn from this dark underbelly many times in the past, including now," Mirai's words rang true for many of the group, as teams RWBY and NPR already knew about Cinder and her group supposedly being from Mistral and Leonardo Lionheart being one of Salem's agents, and Ozpin and his group, including Winter had previous issues regarding individuals from Mistrals dark underbelly, with Qrow knowing very well how dark the criminal underworld of Mistral was, "then there is the fact that a lot of the rouge huntsmen in Remnant, including many of Salem's past followers and allies were graduates from Mistral Academy, while most others instead turned to crime and or banditry and have never looked back on the path of being a huntsman ever since, with only few of those who graduated even still remaining as Huntsmen after leaving Haven Academy and most of that few still end up taking work from very disreputable places, my god if this is what any of you see as a success, then I truly fear for the fate of Remnant and those that live on it. Then let's not forget the rather glaring fact that Mistral is largely at the heart of Faunas discrimination issues, due in large part having originally been the heart of Faunas Slavery in the past, a past the quite a bit of Mistral has never really let go off, so many of the cities in Mistral still hold the faunas in contempt due to this, and until that issue gets truly rectified, you can honestly forget about seeing any real improvement in human-faunas relations so long as Mistral has its say, that and the massive criminal underworld that makes up most of Mistral."

Then the screen changed again, and this time, Winter, Wiess and Ironwood were at full attention, as what appeared on the screen was the continent of Solitas, and their home kingdom of Atlas.

"The technological marvel of Remnant, the arguably most successful and youngest of the four great kingdoms and the literal city in the clouds, the kingdom of Atlas, originally the huntsman Academy/R&D facility Alceus until it developed into its own city state, becoming the symbol of scientific triumph on Remnant, and is seen by the world as the greatest kingdom, as well as possessing the **only** real standing military on all of Remnant, a 'radiant light of the far north' I guess you could say, and yet …" Mirai then looked at the resident Atlesians, spreading out the image of Atlas for all to see, "… there is a saying, one that I believe easily applies to Atlas's issue, and that is 'the more radiant the light, the darker its shadow', and speaking of shadow …"

The screen then panned down to show what was beneath Atlas, and everyone had already seen the Prime reality, thus knowing what Mirai was referring to, the Atlesians looking away from the screen as 'it' was shown.

"Wow, what a pit, old and decaying buildings, badly paved roads and walkways, literal slums, lots of smog, and people who look like they have nothing to look forward to, all surrounded by a wall that has many holes and had to be shored up with wood or whatever else could be found and with defenses that appear to be at least a decade past their recall date, man what shit-hole."

Mirai then looked at Ironwood, who looked back, before she gave a very firm and upset glare, "I guess when you say for the good of Atlas, you only refer to those that live **in** and **on** Atlas, while those under it don't even count as citizens it appears."

Ironwood grew upset at this, challenging Mirai's words, "those people are citizens of Atlas, and I have done all I could to protect them, something I don't ex-!"

Chink!

An auto-cannon appeared before Ironwood, the large gun ready to unleash death upon the General, and Mirai stood before the Cyborg huntsman, seeming to tower over his form.

"You were about to say how I don't understand, how I wouldn't know what it means to protect the lives of others, or how to make sacrifices for the greater good, or even how I wouldn't understand the horrible decisions that come from choosing what to either save or leave in the name of a greater goal," Mirai the looked at Ironwood with a gaze, a gaze that Ironwood knew all too well, the sort of Haggard look he had seen on the faces of those who experienced true hardship and strife in their lives, a look he had seen in his soldiers, his huntsmen … and himself, "the problem is Ironwood, I have had to protect many lives, made sacrifices either to great or two small for the end goals, and I had to see and in some cases order others to take actions that still haunt me even now, and I do not speak of simple games or make believe, I have more duties beside being your host in this mutiversal 'View to Find' session that you are here for. The reason I said any of that was due to the rather … blatant contrasts that seem to exist between those in Atlas and in Mantle, as well as the severe amount of inaction taken by those in positions of authority to try and rectify the issues that plague the 'former capital', hmm."

Mirai now had two images shown, one showing the image of the 'rich snob' from the 'charity gala' when Wiess had been brought back to Atlas, the same one that made the remarks to left the Atlesians very depressed and the others very upset, the other showed an image of young man in heavy clothing in a crumbling and dilapidated Mantle building with a very old model Dust-heater that was in terrible condition and the room littered with random junk and mining clothing and equipment in the corner of the building, all while the news played on an old model television screen saying how the price of dust had gone up, all the while the man could only eat in solemn silence, hoping that one day things would get better … which he knew they wouldn't.

The sheer contrast between an Atlesian and a Mantleian was as clear as night and day, and the Atlesians in the room were starting to get some very negative stares from the others, Ruby herself giving Wiess a rather disapproving look, Wiess herself not really able to say anything considering how she had been and who she was.

"The Atlesian is rich, well fed, constantly sheltered, and have the belief of being 'naturally superior' and that everything revolves around themselves and their desires, and that nothing else matters in the long run, while also wielding the greatest technology and being at the forefront of scientific discovery and advancement, all while somehow being the only kingdom with a standing military force out of the other four kingdoms for some reason, and even having access to high end technologies like energy weapons and robotic soldiers, all the things that make Atlas stand out amongst the other kingdoms in so many ways," then Mirai's voice took on a dark tone as she continued, "then comes Mantle, the original kingdom of Solitas. The only thing than comes to mind when looking at Mantle is '**what a shit-hole**', the city is almost literally falling apart, crime ridden, smog covered, and always at risk of a Grimm attack due to the near constant animosity that Mantle has towards Atlas, and speaking of animosity, the fact that Atlas can hold itself on its 'pedestal of greatness' is almost entirely due to the resources that Mantle itself mines from the ground and has to give to Atlas, all while having to pay for the very minerals they themselves dug out of the ground at the very risk of their health and lives, both Faunas and humans alike, and lets not forget that the only real choices for a Faunas in Atlas is either trying to be a Specialist at best and winding up a servant or laborer doing all of Atlas's more demeaning jobs at worst," this news really did not sit well with everyone else, and the Atlesians were starting feel quite uncomfortable with the rather crossed gazes they were receiving, especially from the present faunas, who now knew that it was not only her own people, but even people from the same place as Atlas that suffered from Atlas.

"Now we get to the nitty gritty of this discussion, particularly why Mantle has never been able to rise beyond its decrepit state and try to stand on its own, an answer that is as simple as it is horrifying …"

"… because Atlas doesn't want Mantle to rise, Atlas wants Mantle to be completely dependent upon it, to never grow beyond its shadow, to always be subservient to it and essentially be its underling, working for it, supporting it, and giving all it has to Atlas, even if it really does not want to … and it really does not want to."

Ironwood, Winter and Wiess rose up to protest that Atlas was doing no such thing …

SKCOOOO-BSSSHHH

"Guh!"

"GAH!"

"GCK!"

Three rubber bullets silenced all three, fired at a speed none of them saw, one hitting Ironwood on the flesh side of his face, one slamming into Winters upper torso just below her chest, and the third hit Wiess in her mid-section, basically knocking the wind out of her, three smoking GL (Grenade Lanuncher) turrets being the culprits.

Rings of Healing came up and started to heal the damage, all the while Mirai said "SHUT. UP."

She fixed them with a gaze that left them with little word to complain, even scaring the others of the group, and then Mirai smiled, a smile that unsettled the group as she then stated, "as to why I can calmly and effortlessly do and say all of these things to you about your home nation and how horrible it is beneath the glitz and glamour, let me show you a few clips from what I would like to call …"

"… **Atlas: The Dark Chronicles**"

The holo-screen soon appeared and the scene played out …

**Clip 1 – False Fang**

**The scene soon played out as a Atlas outpost was bustling with activity, the personnel at the outpost were all Atlesian soldiers, all in white armor either on patrol or watching the surveillance cameras for any activity, as the snow fell outside.**

**In the outpost, the commander was looking at his scroll, showing a news that the Schnee Dust Company had developed and was preparing to deploy its first robot soldier called the Knight, and that soon the soldiers would be fighting alongside the regular forces of Atlas. The commander had an exasperated look, not really liking the idea of machines taking the place of real soldiers, and he was one of the people in a position to petition against the deployment of the robot soldiers, as soon as his tour in the outpost ends, he will head back to Atlas to petition with others to stop the production of the so called 'Knights'.**

**BOOOMMMM**

**A large explosion echoed through the outpost, and soon multiple blasts were echoing through the whole base, then came the shooting and the screams, the Commander looking to the security feeds to see what was happening and was horrified at the sight.**

**His soldiers were being cut down, shot dead and slaughtered left and right, and the ones attacking …**

… **White Fang, all in the white hooded outfits, wearing Grimm-like masks and attacking with violence using weapons that appeared to be a mix of sabers, guns and some stolen Atlesian weapons, cutting down his soldiers and killing his men.**

**BOOMM**

**The door to the command room was blasted open, and the commander could only turn before he and his staff were cut down in a hail of bullets, the commander barely alive, blood coming from his mouth as he lay bleeding and dying on the ground, then the one who appeared to be the leader of the attack walked up to the dying commander, and drew a pistol.**

**BANG**

**The Commander died, and the White Fang leader stood over the body, then he received a call on his own scroll while the other White Fang began to set up bombs in the room, getting ready to destroy the outpost.**

"**Yeah, mhm, all done here boss, no survivors and the charges are being planted now, everything will be set to go soon enough," some more words came from the scroll, the voice modulated to disguise it, "don't worry, everyone will just see it as the White Fang attacking in the name of 'Faunas Superiority' or some crap like that."**

**The man reached to his face and pulled back the hood … revealing the very human face of the individual with no animal features, and with tattoos that were of Mistralian design, the man chuckling as the voice continued before concluding…**

"**Just as long as we get paid well, no one will no anything else, are we getting paid?"**

**/-/**

**The scene now showed a dimly lit office, and the familiar voice of a very specific individual.**

"**But of course, you have earned a rather hefty tip today, in fact I have need of the services of you and your group in another task, the standard fee," Jacques Schnee let the man talk, a wicked and cruel smile soon forming on his face, "excellent, I will have the details of your next assignment sent to you soon."**

**Jacques Schnee hung up the scroll before he strolled to the window, gazing at one of the SDC's many factories, watching in silent happiness as the assembly line kept pumping out the new Knights being produced by his company, smiling as whole lines being readied to be shipped off.**

"**No one will stop me," greed dripping from his voice, as behind him was a screen showing the faces of the Commander and several other Atlesian officers, with all but one having red x's running over them, the last on the screen being a young man with light grey hair, a young face and an optimistic look to him, and his name …**

… **Terrence Gris.**

**/-END-/**

**Clip 2 – Poisonous Deception**

**The winters in Solitas were quite simply the worst on all of Remnant, but this winter was by far the worst. A sudden cold front had brought the freezing temperatures in Solitas even lower, and this problem was compounded by sudden power losses in Mantle, the cities heating grid going out at certain points, and causing many to slowly freeze in their homes.**

**As can be expected the response from the people in the local neighborhoods was quite clear, with angered citizens soon taking to the streets and riots starting to break out, but with no means of truly unifying together, the riots were dispersed quickly by either Atlesian Knights or by sudden Grimm incursions, though the anger the people felt only grew. Then a voice rang out, belonging to a man named George Luz, the man soon began to bring together the people in the affected neighborhoods, with three of the most influential of the neighborhoods citizens as his main support as he led the neighborhoods to try and get the issue regarding the power ended, as well as try and improve the situation for everyone.**

**It was a nice little story at first … until it was not.**

**The group suddenly were being led in far more violent direction, ambushing supply convoys, attacking SDC shops, and even wrecking Atlas Knights and security systems, the issue growing worse, and the other neighborhoods soon turning away from the blatant violence that appeared to be hurting neighborhoods more than helping. The problem became so bad that the Atlesian military ended up having to take over, which led to a fight that caused a Grimm attack, destroying the neighborhoods and leading to the deaths of many of the neighbors while the rest were led away, though many would say that the neighbors that were being led away seemed … off, looking more like furious beasts that were ready to lash out, with only words of anger or an angry snarl coming from those who were being led away, and it was also noted that during the fight that occurred, the people, even though they had no Aura or Semblance, were almost able to fight on par with Atlas's Specialists and destroyed many Knights and even attacked the invading Grimm in melee, which ended with them dying though sometimes they would succeed in killing the attacking Grimm, but the way they acted was more in line with violent animals rather than an organized force, attacking human, Grimm and also each other near the end. To many it seemed to be a sensational story that soon faded as the neighborhoods were demolished and rebuilt, though with either Atlas military buildings or new SDC properties, and as for the people, no one heard from them again.**

**The truth, however, was far worse than any could have known.**

**/-/**

**In an small room, the man known as George Luz stood over the dead bodies of the neighborhood leaders, a knife dripping with blood in his hand, then moved to a door leading into the basement of the building, and in the basement were several crates that held white medical containers, all empty, save for one last syringe, containing a clear liquid within, which the man pocketed before calling through a very unique scroll.**

"**Hello, this is agent Gamma, I have accomplished the assigned parameters of my mission, and it is as the initial tests suggested," the man named George Luz, now Agent Gamma said through the scroll, and soon a heavily altered voice came through.**

"**Hmm, how disappointing, and here I thought it would be different, well not like we were expecting much anyway," the voice stated, cold amorality echoing through, "haah, we spent so much on the development of the ENHANCER, a quick and easy way to make the fiercest and most focused breed of soldier that has ever been seen on all of Remnant, a way to bring the human element back to the forefront of the Atlesian military, if only the aggression of the subjects could have been controlled, and what's more is the issue that the subjects seem to just devolve into mindless savages overtime, nothing but an utter failure …"**

"… **ah well, at least we were able to deal with the issue of those unproductive elements that have only been making problems, asking form more and trying to imply that Atlas and the SDC were at fault, utter madness, well they served a purpose at least so we can thank them for that at least, now Agent Sigma, return to the facility, we have new orders in Mistral that we need carried out."**

"**I'll be there immediately," agent Gamma stated before setting several charges of fire dust in the basement to wipe away trace of what had occurred before using a hidden entrance into Mantles sewer to escape, leaving no evidence and destroying the lives of several of Mantles citizens.**

**All for greed, scientific amorality, and an empty promise that in the end, meant nothing.**

**/END/**

Silence … **HORRIFIED **silence

Silence that Mirai broke.

"That was our incredibly brief view into some of the most evil shit that Atlas decided to do, and this will shock you but that is the lightest of Atlas's dirty laundry, if you saw some of the worst stuff you would likely never trust an Atlesian again, and the Atlesians here would likely not be so proud of being who they are," then the screen shifter, "and for those who think that only Atlas can come up with what is basically straight up evil, here is some food for thought."

The screen showed five slots, all were **'The Dark Chronicles'**, and each was focused around the four kingdoms … and the White Fang.

"What you saw and what is in these 'Dark Chronicles' are records of some of the darkest deeds that had been committed by the groups shown, all having been gained from Remnants throughout the multiverse, including your own Remnant, all showing dark events that were committed by either prominent of secretive individuals in the four kingdoms or the errant terrorist organization, and what we have is, in a word, 'immense."

The group had been quite shocked and disturbed at the horrifying fact that such things happened, and not even in Atlas, which horrified them at what was happening that they did not know, though some of them did have an idea of quite a number of dark matters that the may be in '**The Dark Chronicles**', Ozpin and Ironwood in particular had some ideas and had plans to see what dark secrets they did not know about, what lies they had been told and truths that were buried.

"Then we come to the last of the four 'great kingdoms', and I quote this phrase since this kingdom in particular is honestly less of a nation than even Menagerie, Vacuo, which I see as the chance that never happened. The nation holding all the necessary means to ensure a stable and flourishing nation, abundant resources, excellent geographical defenses, and whose people have largely done away with racism and bigotry, and could have had all the means to build itself up and truly stand equal to the other nations of Remnant, which I guess the other nations did not want as currently Mistral, Atlas, and even Vale have put so much of their economic and diplomatic resources into ensuring that Vacuo essentially remains largely dependent on the other three nations. Now Vacuo is largely a barren and sand blasted wasteland with only a few stretches of vegetation and habitable space, its resources have largely been taken by the industries of Remnant, including a certain dust company that actually has the gall to call itself charitable and fair when it literally has the Vacuans pay almost absurd amounts of money for the very resources that were **mined IN THEIR OWN KINGDOM!** The government of Vacuo is honestly both a sham and a failure, they help no one, make a laws that are neither followed or even really enforced and the people are forced to live as literal outcasts in their own kingdom, constantly having to migrate anywhere they can and sometimes even the devastated remains of places rendered dead by Grimm, bandits or even the weather of the wasteland, and its only guiding voice being the Academy that even now is struggling to try and keep the kingdom safe and has so far managed to succeed even with the large amount of restrictions that plague Shade Academy. So far the only thing that Vacuo has is its lack of racism and bigotry, but is so far a hub of outcasts and utter contempt at the three kingdoms that currently hold sway over it, including its former 'ally' that it came to the aid of in the 'Great War', an alliance that appears to have not really meant much to Vale in the end, and this anger at the other kingdoms has only been left to grow and fester, to the point where, with the right amount of prodding, maybe from someone with a genuine desire to destroy the other kingdoms, Vacuo's rage can be unleashed in a truly terrifying way."

With that, the screens faded, and now the group was left with Mirai looking at the group, a mix of silent horror and some looks of shame and worry, along with many other negative emotions were present, then they heard Mirai release a long, shuddering sigh as she the straightened herself up as the lights in the theater came on and Mirai the looked at the group, and next to her came Sybil, looking impassively at the group.

"There are three reasons for the things you saw, for what was told to you, for why we had to subject you all to this viewing and dig up some very negative points regarding your world and yourselves," Mirai then held up her hand in a fist and extended one finger, and Sybil was the one to speak.

"**One, to make you all aware of the true depths of the danger you face, and the issues that plague yourselves and the world around you, issues that Salem and her accomplices can and in so many cases, ****have****, exploited to either gain an strong edge over you all, or even drive some or all of you into a very dark path, one that can lead to your own ruin and damnation. You may have morals, but your enemies do not have morals, at all, like the Grimm …. or lawyers."**

The group knew from what they saw that it was true, and that Salem could, would and did use the weaknesses of humanity to her advantage, and several of the group had already seen their own problems be used by the villains to further their own goals, or to turn on of their own against the others, though Ruby wanted to question the part regarding lawyers, but Wiess put lowered Rubies hand and told Ruby that Mirai was right.

Then Mirai continued next.

"Second, is to open everyone's eyes to the real problems that Remnant faces, problems that have been plaguing the four kingdoms, problems that can and sometimes do end up reaching a threat level just below or almost equal to either Salem or her accomplices in threat level, and in the rarer cases even more dangerous than Salem or her associates could ever be, even in their own warped dreams, ranging from a second 'Great War' coming into existence to the awakening of two or more Champion-class Grimm, and to those who think that I have those threats out of order, none of you have ever had to face a Champion Grimm, and I have to make it clear that Grimm Champions have faced and killed magic users, and not those pathetic excuses for spell casters you call the seasonal maidens, sorry Ozpin but you know it's the truth," Ozpin nodded at Mirai's words, the old memories of his past fights with the Grimm of the old era solidifying Mirai's words as true, "the Champion Grimm fought Magic Warrior's, Knights, and other's that wielded magic as a powerful and terrifying weapon, one that made a single Magic Warrior on par with an Atlesian heavy assault cruiser in sheer combat potential, and the Champions killed hundreds of such individuals, think hard on that before you decide to discount them as a threat."

The group were left feeling a truly strong sense of worry, even Yang was hoping that she never comes across a Grimm Champion … EVER!

"Third and the most relevant to our current circumstances, is that I have seen what I guess you could call 'previews' to the realities that we need to see, and I am going to tell you here and now, you are all going to be seeing alternate versions of yourselves and Remnant in a very, VERY bad way, and as to what that means. The level of how bad things go for your alternative selves in the most of these realities range from you just overreacting to Jaune Arc's circumstances in a negative and blatantly violent manner, driving that realities Jaune Arc into changing, to some of you guys actually ending up as literal villains in the several of the realities, be it accidental, developing, or even deliberate, and I tell no lies in this regard, as future viewing will easily attest to, I am only warning you so you don't say that I never said anything regarding some or most of you becoming evil in the realities we will see."

Mirai concluded what she wanted to say, Sybil nodding next to her as the group were left worried about what they would bee seeing, talking amongst themselves, wondering about what they would be seeing and worried about what they would see, and also some back and forth between some of the group as to the things they had learned about the others, and Yang had gotten into a heated argument with Ruby regarding what Ruby learned about her when Sybil had revealed a rather dark fact about Yang, and Mirai was about to try and calm the group down and tell them that she needed to make something clear to them …

… but then!

EEEIIIIIIRRRRR, EEEEEEIIIIIIIRRRRR, EEEEIIIIIRRRRRR

An alarm blasted through the facility, shocking the whole group, and Mirai suddenly held out her arm and instantly several metal components rushed out of nowhere around Mirai and formed a large pistol of dark, angled metal that was obviously not of human make, and from several walls, several of the same robot girls that the group had encountered before suddenly emerged all carrying large weapons like large rifles, alien-like weapons, and even large bladed weapons with the blade glowing a deep blue and detached from the weapon. Yang was now trying to help Ruby who was somewhere between a panic attack and a 'weapon-gasm?', and Sybil now glowed a mix of red, orange and purple as many rings of light appeared around her, and her eyes now with a crosshair-like pattern in them, looking at a holo-screen before her.

"**There is a anomaly in the main theater, the system has detected a dimensional rift opening inside this facility, and your not going to believe this, but the source appears to be from Remnant," **Sybil turned to the Remnetian group and said the words that shocked them all, **"YOUR REMNANT."**

"Wa-wait, if this is from our Remnant, then, then that means," Wiess was the one to imply what everyone was thinking, and all of them were about ready to jump at what she was implying, only for Sybil to shoot her down.

"**Apologies Miss Schnee but this is not a way home, in-fact the readings are telling me that this is less of a portal and more of some sort of 'dimensional lifeboat', sent on a one way trip from your Remnant through whatever the heck is interfering with Remnants reality and seemed to have found its way here, and the energy readings of this things are fluctuating at a dangerous and unpredictable manner, it was lucky it even got here and didn't annihilating itself within the dimensional space, destroying itself and whatever it was carrying. What's more, it seems to have only one living thing within it, and whatever it is, it appears to be suffering damage from the transit, the energy envelope of this thing is fluctuating at a very unstable rate, we may need medical staff here," **Sybil soon disappeared, and a passageway opened up, leading to the theater, and it showed a warping area of space in the room, with a sort of rip in reality opening up, revealing a warping ovaloid-shaped mass of radiant blue green energy come out of the rift.

The group made their way into the theater, just as the rift completely closed itself, the robot-girls surrounding the unknown 'dimensional lifeboat' weapons trained on the object, ready to respond with violence if the object was hostile.

The 'lifeboat then lowered itself onto the ground, and as it almost touched the ground, it then dissipated into motes of light, and from its dispersion came the body of what appeared to be a young woman with very one hair, the woman lightly falling to the ground, completely bereft of clothing, and the girls of the group then began to move to block the view of them men of their group, but then saw the men have looks of shock and surprise.

"That's …", Ozpin remarked in shock.

"Could she be …", a stunned Ironwood exclaimed.

"It's …" the stuttering shock and forming of tears in the eyes of Qrow was shocking for the group, Yang and Ruby in particular, and they all turned to the woman on the floor …

… Ruby suddenly went completely still, shock on her face as Yang suddenly looked like she had just seen something that she could not believe, and both had tears begin to build at the corners of their eyes.

Mirai spoke, "No this is quite a shocking development," as she got a good look at the person lying on the ground.

"M…M…MMMM," Ruby struggled to get the word, but finally the word she wanted to scream out suddenly burst forth from her as she ran to the now very familiar body of the woman she thought she would never see again, and who she had desperately wished to see again for so much of her life ….

"MOOOOOMMMM!"

Lying on the ground before the group in the middle of the room … was none other than Ruby's birth mother and Yang's present mother, Summer Rose.

Ruby rushed to Summer, about to reach out and at least hold her to at least know that it really was her …

BAM

Only to run straight into an energy barrier, falling backward, but luckily caught by Wiess, and stood back up, just as Mirai came forward, as several individuals, which all appeared to be medic's wearing protective armored suits soon went around Summer, all carrying containers with medical symbols on them.

"Ruby, don't think I don't know what you, Yang or Qrow wish to do right now, you want to be next to Summer Rose, to hold her with your own hands, to know that what you are seeing is real and not a hallucination and that she really is here, which I can tell you now that she is and that she is alive, but look at her Ruby, take a very clear look at Summer's current condition," Mirai stated as she urged the group to look at Summers current state.

Ruby and the others did look at Summer and were all horrified by what they saw.

Summer Rose's hair had grown out long and flowing, so it luckily helped cover up Summer's more feminine areas, but her hair was horribly unruly and unkempt, with many split ends and also seemed to have been cleaned very roughly, leaving points of damage in Summers black/red hair, but what they saw on the rest of her was also very bad. Her hands and feet had deep burns on them, along with portions of her body that were red and blistering from being exposed to strong amounts of heat, but that was not all that horrified Ruby and her relatives. On most of Summer's body were many deep cuts and bruises that appeared to have been made quite a long time ago, yet now wrapped up in some sort of strange bandages that seemed be emitting some sort of energy that was healing the damage done to Summer, and on her torso located just above where here stomach was, was what appeared to be the result of a savage puncture that looked like one that the resident Remnetians would see from a small Deathstalker sting … or the sting of a very big scorpion, or a scorpion faunas.

"Dammit … fucking dammit … she had her, all this time that bitch had her," Qrow was furious beyond words, and it did not take anyone long to guess what he was getting at, with Ozpin, Glynda and Ironwood having already figured out what Qrow was getting at, with Ruby, her sister and team, NPR and Winter all realizing what Qrow meant.

"Yes … Salem had Summer Rose, she had her captured and tortured for whatever ungodly reason she wanted, and kept her alive in one of the many undisclosed locations she has, or maybe even within her own citadel in the Grimm lands," Mirai stated, the group horrified at the prospect of whatever horrors that Summer was made to go through by Salem, Ruby and Yang horrified at the fact that the mother that raised and nurtured them had been a prisoner of the most evil being on all of Remnant, "what's done is done, she is no longer in Salem's clutches, she's here, with us, and right now she needs medical attention righ-, what have we here?"

The group saw as Mirai reached out to a patch of some of the strange medical tape and saw her pull away a folded piece of paper, all the while the medical personnel in the armored suits placed patches on Summers body that seemed to grow out into a pure white bodysuit that had soft lights pulsing through it, the same light as the healing rings that the group were familiar with, and also saw as the medics used a device that seemed to grow out in a weaving pattern of unknown material, going under Summer and lifting her up, and soon forming into a stretcher with Summer face up on it, all the while Mirai began to read the paper.

" 'I do not know who is reading this not, but I implore you to please save the person I have sent you, she has suffered horrifically at the most vile of individuals, she is not safe where I am, so I have sent her as far away from the danger as I can, and only hope that she finds help where she arrives. Also, as to the individuals who brought her to this state, I have seen to it that the ones who harmed and tortured her are now no longer able to bring harm to anything or anyone EVER AGAIN', that's all it says," Mirai finished, just as a portal opened behind her, and through it teams RWBY and NPR saw the medical center, and also a familiar face.

"Looks like it's a busy day today for me, bring her to the Intense treatment area, I'll go through every treatment and therapy I can there," Emma spoke as the medical personnel picked up the stretcher with the now medically clothed Summer Rose and walked through the open portal into the medical center, "if you want you can come along and watch if any of you are worried, but I implore you to let me do my job and heal her, and don't worry, I have healed to full health those who have lost most of their body and those who have only recently became deceased, and by recently, I mean within a span of 48 hours," with Emma's words as both assurance and food for thought as she made her way into the medical sector to begin operating on Summer Rose, and Ruby, Yang and Qrow turned to Mirai.

"The next viewings wont be for a few more hours, but luckily the medical has a temporal dilation field that accelerates the time within that sector, so the time till the next viewing is extended to a time of 12 hours within the medical ward, more than enough time for Summer to be healed of her injuries, and she should awaken after the procedure, and having her family present would greatly help calm her down and explain the current situation to her," the barrier went down and Ruby was about to bolt, though Mirai then fixed her and the others with a sharp gaze as she spoke, "though once the viewing starts again, you all will need to be present for it, Summer will still need to be looked after in the medical ward and luckily wont attend the viewing until she regains her health, though the rest of you will have be present when the viewing happens … unless you wish to suffer the effects of the 'bleed-over' again."

Whatever retort the group had ready died as Ruby, her team, and NPR recalled the unimaginable agony of the 'bleed-over' and reluctantly agreed, not wanting to suffer the horrific pain of the 'bleed over' again, with Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, Ironwood and Winter also agreeing as they had seen the 'bleed-over' and what it did to team RWBY and NPR, though Ozpin was curious as to what could happen from being merged with another version of himself in another reality, but decided not to and focused on the current issue of returning to Remnant.

"Well, lets go and see Summer's operation and recovery, and then continue on with trying to get you all back to your Remnant, as well as finding out what has happened to your Remnant," with the Mirai walked into the medical sector with the group in tow, off to see and hope for the recovery of Summer Rose.

* * *

**I **_**HATED**_** writing this interlude, I hated it more than the hatred between a cat and dog with a severe case of Rabies, the next time I have to write anything like this hopefully ends up being a long time from now or never again, preferably never.**

**Honestly, the time it took me to write this I could have written two or three of the viewing chapters, which I am now getting anxious to do.**

**Sorry that this large info-dump and personal critique ended up happening, but honestly I hope that you all will stay and read my work, but I needed a point to air out grievances about the individuals in the work as well as things that may come up later.**

**Anyway, sorry for the wait, but I assure you the next ****real**** chapter will be posted soon.**

**AEOS REACT, be back soon.**


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – TRINITY I, Restored Light/Enlightened Shadow

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… uh"

SHUFFLE

"Mmmmmh"

A soft voice filled with contentment slipped through the lips of a resting woman in a very comfortable bed, as she slowly began to stir …

… then her eyes shot open, as she then sat up on the bed, and looked around at …

"Wh-where am I," the woman said, suddenly finding herself in room she didn't know, though a room that was very comfortable, and she saw that she was near a window with a nice view of a very expansive garden and …

"WOOOOW," the woman stated as she saw the sci-fi city/station that she saw, and the distant sun that illuminated the city and several planets that orbited the sun, which made her stunned into silence at what she witnessed, the scene so surreal that she honestly thought she was dreaming.

She lifted her arm, realizing she could feel the sheets as she moved her hand, but the realized that there was a soft throbbing come from her left arm, and she looked to see that it was an IV tube, and looked up the line to see that it lead to a light green bag, and on the bag was the words 'NUTRI-MED, nurtures the body, heals all pain, and staves off all forms of atrophy, be in your best shape as you rest your body, caution: use of NUTRI-MED can cause slight loss of taste, also can cause lack of appetite, ensure to take stimulant upon conclusion of using NUTRI-MED'.

The woman could only look bemused at what was written on the IV bag, but also noticed that she did feel very well and that she had no problems moving, looking at her arms and moving the sheet to see that she was quite well, and saw that all but her oldest injuries had completely faded away, even her old scars were fading. Then she felt as the IV needle removed itself from her arm, then a slight chill was felt on her skin where the needle had been in, and the IV line disconnected from her arm and the line seemed to shrink up to the now drained IV bag, now dangling on the IV stand, then a small paper cup with a clear yet slightly bubbling liquid inside of it, and a small holographic sign appeared next to it saying, 'Stimulant for taste restoration' and the woman remembered what the IV bag read and downed the drink, and she immediately felt the dull sense of taste she had return to her tongue …

… then froze solid with the sudden shock that felt like glass cracking shot through her as she crushed the paper cup in her grip, a monstrously strong taste of utter bitterness made its way through her tongue and into her body, making her cringe to such a degree that the woman was left wondering how she had not passed out from the immense bitterness, then it suddenly passed and in that moment she let out a long sigh as a refreshing, sweet taste came in and she felt very relaxed and calm soon after.

The woman then sat on the bed, just waiting for someone to come by, but then felt a small gust of warm wind from the open window, and looked again to the garden and city, and slowly she got up from the bed, finding that she could stand just fine, feeling the cold floor beneath her feet, but found some slippers near the bed, and put them on finding that they fit just right.

The woman walked to what seemed like a door, and was stunned as the door seemed to disassemble into block-like pieces that opened quickly and silently, and as she passed the door closed behind her as quickly and silently as it opened, and the woman made her way down the hall, seeing the pristine and very futuristic looking hallway that had windows at certain points looking out into the garden. The woman walked to a door at the end, making her way to the doorway, and as she made her way to the door, the door opening like the one before, allowing the woman to step outside.

The feeling of a warm breeze came through as the woman walked out into the garden, finding the view far beyond anything she could have ever imagined, the view was beyond glorious, the sight of the city, the multiple strange yet amazing buildings, what she believed were spaceships and airships going through the city like in a sci-fi novel, and the sight of a sun and many planets around it in the distance, showing that everything she saw was inside some sort of impossibly massive structure, one filled with things that she had never seen before and were amazing beyond compare.

"I, I made it, I'm safe," the woman said to herself, and she began to recall the last thing she could remember before waking where she was.

* * *

**In a dark and decrepit building, a place that had been her prison for so many years, locked away from all she knew and on the brink of completely losing all hope, a powerful blaze consumed the entire building, the dark shadows that had tormented and harmed her were erased in mere moments, and the bindings that held and blinded her for all her time in the now burning citadel were cut away.**

**The woman's unknown savior helped the woman as best they could, binding injuries that had marred my skin, and treating deeper wounds that had been only lightly treated to prolong the woman's suffering, and then helping to take her away from the burning citadel, and out into the now burning dark wastes, countless husks of dark beasts littered the ground, the husks resembling black glass that dark flesh, and the unknown rescuer set the woman down, before proceeding to create a bubble of light around the woman, attaching a note to one of the woman's bandages. The figure was difficult to make out, and the face seemed to be blotted out by a strange disturbance, and their voice warped t be neither male or female in tone, while around the individual were many unknown shapes moving around them, the shapes appearing to move with around in the air around the unknown person, and it was the shapes that created the bubble and a large vortex in the air above her, one that her rescuer said would take her somewhere safe, somewhere that would help her and protect her.**

**As the bubble formed and the vortex stabilized, another appeared, and the woman felt fear, for it was one of her tormenters, an insane half-scorpion human beast that had tortured, demeaned and poisoned her out of his own twisted sense of pleasure, and she felt particularly good seeing the man's half burned visage and his stinger now removed from his body. The man screamed in his enraged tone, "You, you fool, you dared to desecrate our goddesses home, and try to make off with the heretic who deserves only the greatest of torments, when our lady returns, you will only know true suffering."**

**The woman felt fear as she recalled the face of her captor and warden, a vile mix between the dark beasts and an evil yet admittedly well-formed woman, and was horrified at the concept of her appearing, only for her savior to start chuckling for a moment, before looking at the man …**

… **and said what the woman had once thought was an impossible thing.**

"**Your goddess isn't coming, in fact after what I did to her, she won't ever dare try to show her face or at least what's left of it anywhere near here, in fact how do you think I found this place, your goddess told me its location after I 'persuaded' her to give me the information, in fact …"**

**The shapes moved slightly between the unknown savior and the madman, and then a brief shimmer of energy was released … **

"… _**this**_** is trophy I got from my battle with her."**

… **revealing the ARM of the woman's captor, severed from the shoulder, with the severed portion a crumbling black, yet the color of the skin and nails were unmistakable, it was the arm of the greatest evil on the woman's world, and her savior had apparently beaten and interrogated her captor.**

**The madman was furious beyond words, likely at the thought of real harm befalling his so called 'goddess' and with a scream he lunged at the savior …**

**SKRABBBOOOOOMMM**

… **only for a loud explosion to blast the madman away with such force that the man smashed clean through a large rock and roll a short distance away, leaving the madman broken and bleeding.**

"**Once I have my charge safe, I will deal with you, and once I am done with you, you're so called goddess and the last of her followers will soon follow."**

**The savior turned to the woman, said a brief goodbye, and a small 'be safe' saying, before the woman disappeared into the portal, blacking out as she entered, and …**

* * *

The woman opened her eyes, looking up into the sun and was overjoyed at having been rescued from her horrible imprisonment, but was also fraught with worry, as she remembered all she had been taken from, from her friends, her husband, her home, and most importantly …

… her daughters.

One who she took in and another that was her own blood, having been taken away from them, likely believed dead and was terrified at what had become of her family, of what happened to her children, fearing what her supposed passing had done.

"M-mom…"

The woman heard a soft voice, and turned around to see …

The woman could only stare, stare at the face of a young girl, a girl who was almost a mirror image of herself at a younger age, a girl who the woman knew almost immediately.

"R-Ruby …"

That last word was all it took, all that was needed as the woma- no, as Summer Rose, with tears of joy in her eyes , soon ran to her daughter, with Ruby running to her, arms outstretched and both embraced each other.

"Ruby, my beautiful daughter, I never thought this day would ever come, I almost gave up hope so many times," Summer said through sobs, hoping that it truly was not a dream, and that she was truly holding her daughter in her arms.

"M-Mom, it's you, I-I thought you had been gone, that you were dead, but to know that Salem had you, that she had you trapped somewhere, I … I wish … uhh, uwaaahh," Ruby held onto her mother with a strong hug, believing that Summer could disappear if she let her go, and Ruby did not want to lose her mother ever again.

"Summer/Mom," came two voices, and standing at the entrance to the garden were two more people that Summer had believed she would never meet again.

"Yang, Qrow," Summer said in joy, as she saw her former teammate and self-appointed brother and her partly adopted daughter rush to her, hugging her close along with Ruby, saying how they missed her and were sorry for believing her gone, Qrow most of all, and Summer also said she missed them immensely and had hoped long and hard that what was happening was not a dream and that everything that was happening was real.

Looking from another garden are one level up was a group consisting of Ironwood, Winter, Glynda, Ozpin, NPR, Wiess, Blake and Mirai as they looked happily at the reunion between a long lost, imprisoned by evil mother reuniting with her family, a happy scene that anyone, except for the heartless fiends they had faced many times in their lives, would find heartwarming.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go and at least greet Summer, I actually do hold her as a friend in my eyes, past issues in school aside," said Glynda as she watched the scene that played out before them.

"Later Glynda, but now she needs to be with her family, we can say our greetings at a later time, for now however," Ozpin said as he looked at the reunited family as they began to talk to one another about what had been missed and some other greetings, "its their time together that matters now."

The group were all in agreement, that Summer should be with her family now, only for Mirai to speak up, "if only it could be so simple, but I am afraid that soon we will need to return to the main theater, or else suffer a 'bleed-over' that will cause more harm than the previous one, or worst, and I can assure you that no one, I mean **NO ONE** here wants to know what the other thing is, I know what it is, and while I cannot say in full what 'it' is without some drawn out explanation, one of the results of 'it' happening is personality erasure, or the complete wipe of the personality, memories, and even existence of the afflicted, and that's only one of the worse things that can happen, the other things are even more horrifying than that, so say what you need to while I set the theater back up, then I will meet up with you all and Summer when everything is ready."

Mirai soon walked off, heading back into the facility, while the group were left with a growing sense of unease regarding the viewings, fearing what exactly could happen, as the new arrivals had already heard of and seen the effects of the first groups 'bleed-over', and really did not want to find out something worse.

The group saw as Summer and her family made their way back into the hospital and went off to meet her.

* * *

The talk the group had with Summer Rose had been quite eye opening, everyone was horrified at the conditions Summer had been made to endure from Salem, slightly disappointed that they had no news at what was happening on their Remnant but understood that Summer had been a prisoner of Remnants greatest evil and held nothing against her, and all were both shocked and surprised at the news of Summer's rescue by an unknown individual who had not only defeated Salem and took her arm, but even got Salem to spill the location of Summer's prison, Ozpin himself was also left with a slightly conflicted look, of which everyone had come to understand due to his past with Salem long ago.

The group then began sharing their own experiences with Summer, from Ruby, her sister and team, Qrow, team NPR, Glynda, Ozpin, Winter and Ironwood. Summer learned about all that had happened when she had left, from the adventures that Ruby and her team had gone on, all the way to the secrets of Remnant that left her both shocked and very confused, but the thing that threw Summer through a loop was learning how her world and reality had originally existed as an animated cartoon that had branched off to form many different versions of Remnant including her own, with a near infinite amount of Remnants coming to exist in the multiverse. To say Summer was left shocked by what she had heard was a gross understatement, but then finding out that something was happening to Remnant and that it was somehow centered around a classmate of Ruby, her team, NPR who the person lead, and that the group had to see other realities that were somehow directly linked to whatever fate had befallen Remnant, and that the boy had not gotten in via mostly genuine means did not bother Summer in the slightest, as she already had to deal with Qrow and Raven who both got in by less than legal means (and was very saddened by how far her former teammate had fallen), and was told about the viewings the group had seen and that they needed to see more in order to both find out what happened to their Remnant and get back to it.

It was as they discussed this that Mirai then showed up with news that they were fretting to hear.

"The viewing theater has become active, I would advise that everyone here minus Summer Rose make their way to thew theater, this 'Nevi' will act as your guide there," the group saw as the same ball of light within rings that team RWBY had first seen appeared, blinking twice before slowly flying down a hall, the group saying their goodbyes to summer and that Ruby will visit Summer when she can.

Once the group had gone, Mirai turned to Summer and said.

"Please rest for now miss Rose, you need to after you went through, I will be here for a bit to talk with you regarding what you daughter's, sort of brother, and everyone else is here for in detail, so shall we start," Mirai said in a very civil manner and Summer nodded in agreement, and with a small sigh, Mirai said, "I am going sound like a broken record for this, and I know everyone already told you, but its part of my job here, so here I go, ahem …"

"Do you know the name, Jaune Arc."

* * *

The group had taken their seats, with Ruby, Yang, and Qrow planning to visit Summer in between the viewings, with the others also deciding to talk with the now returned Rose matriarch, including Ozpin, who spoke with Qrow, Yang and Ruby, saying that there was something that needed to be talked about, something that he needed to say.

For now, however, the groups took their seats, and looked as the viewing screen began to activate, and the group watched as the view of the new reality appeared.

* * *

**The view of utter blackness came into being, that was all that appeared, and the screen slowly brightened as the view became a lighter gray in color.**

**Yet nothing happened, the image remained as it was …**

* * *

"Boo, what's with this weak sauce opening," Yang said, Nora agreeing as the opening was quite lackluster in comparison to the other openings, "what's with this dum-!"

* * *

… **until**** …**

* * *

"Huh?"

* * *

**SKREEEEEEEEAAAACCCCCHHHHH**

**The light gray of the background was suddenly sundered apart as a jagged line the color of gold, though with a rather plain and weak glow to it, was torn roughly into the background, leaving the jagged gold line on the background.**

**SKRISCH-SKRRSSCHH-SKSHC-SHRSCH-SKISCH**

**A second line was then torn into the background, torn into the gray with what would appear to be claw strikes from incredibly sharp claws, the color was dark, but soon found to be a darkened silver, a silver that while dark had a greater glow than the gold, that formed a jagged line as well.**

**The two lines were arranged together so that the two lines ended at point, neither touching the other and the two lines met at an angle that would look to be the first two parts of a triangle pointing down, just witho-!**

**SKIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAA**

**Then, formed with an almost unnatural precision, a third line came to be, the intensity of its creation was greater than the other two, but the precision with which it was formed was almost mechanical in precision, and the color of the line itself was also unnatural, instead of a color, it was more of a reflective surface, but what was reflected on the surface was beyond words …**

… **it was the purest reflection of the cosmos, stars, nebulas, galaxies, worlds and beyond, all these things seen through the thin line shown.**

**The final line was formed as the base, the three lines taking the shape of an Isosceles Triangle, the base of the triangle being far larger than the two lines making the main point of the triangle.**

**The three lines were formed, the trinity was complete … **

… **only it was not.**

* * *

"Uhhh, okay, does anyone get what … any of that was … at all," stated a very confused Yang, having just seen the lines forming, and having no idea what it meant.

"Well, I think it means … something, I am not sure exactly it means though," Winter chipped in, wondering what the three lines represented, and wondering why they appeared in such a way.

"The lines are a symbol," came Ozpin, drawing the attention of the group, "each line in the triangle is meant to represent either someone or something for which each individual line represents, and how they formed, their color, and even how the color is shown may all represent the current state and properties of the individuals shown, and the lines forming together into a pyramid shape may show that these three symbols are intertwined with one another, and are meant to interact with each other in some way, that's how I see at least."

Ozpin halted his thoughts, but noticed the group looking at him with incredulous gazes, "If you end up living for as long as I have, you end up learning a great many things."

* * *

**Then, from the cosmic line, came two small and thin lines of dark reflective material, streaming like water toward the center of the silver and gold line, and as the two lines neared, they then compounded into a defined shape, until the two lines formed into a basic eight sided diamond shape of the dark, cosmos reflecting material.**

**The two diamonds soon fell to their respective lines, but as the diamonds grew closer, the reality began to shift around the space of the triangle. In but a brief moment, the scene now showed two fully formed diamonds-shapes of a material that seemed to be a mix of marble and obsidian shooting at incomprehensible speeds through the very vacuum of space itself, the two diamonds passed through nebulas, zipped into and through fields of meteors, zipped passed man stars and planets as they made their journey, guided under the unknown power that allowed the diamonds to propel themselves through space.**

**Then the gems seemed to accelerate as they neared their destination, a planet that from a distance appeared to be completely barren, a single lunar body slowly spinning around the barren world, where no life could possibly exist.**

**Yet the diamonds continued accelerating at the planet.**

**The diamonds then began to emit a strange light, one that was made of a strong corona of colors the flowed out from the diamonds like rippling waves of water, the light covering the whole diamond as both diamonds gave a strong pulse, and shot straight at the planet …**

… **and then made contact with some sort of barrier, one that appeared to be made of a mix of light gold and dark purple energies, this barrier coming lightly undone as the diamonds shot through the barrier and to the planet.**

**Though now the planet was not barren, instead what was shown through the opening in the barrier was a blue world, a large ocean covering much of the planet, but on the surface was briefly seen four large landmasses, all of which were strangely draconic in shape, and what more was the moon beneath the barrier, which was now fractured, floating in pieces, though briefly with the brief opening of the barrier, the same dark purple energy that made up the barrier was briefly seen amongst the pieces of the moon, seeming to extend from the planet's surface to the barrier.**

**The diamonds had passed through the barrier, and now were glowing with a strong and radiant light, and in a blast of energy …**

… **they vanished in a swirling ripple of energy, one that seemed to shoot forward and disappear, one ripple aimed at one of the landmasses, while the second ripple was aimed at another landmass.**

**The barrier soon returned, and the image of the blue world was once again replaced with the stark and lifeless image of a barren rock, and the space around the barrier returned to its still nature once again.**

* * *

" … "

The silence from the group was thick as it was heavy, having seen the awe-inspiring view of space, until it got to the part of how it appeared that their world, how Remnant …

… was apparently surrounded by massive barrier, one that just by looking at the color of the energy that made up the barrier automatically keyed them into who created the barrier.

"Now it makes sense," the group turned to Ironwood, who appeared to have realized something after seeing what was on the screen, "during my work as councilman, I ended up being part of many of Atlas's scientific programs, and one such program included the attempts by Atlas's now defunct space program, which not only was cancelled because of dusts inability to leave the atmosphere, but when telescopes began to look at the stars, they began to notice how 'off' what they saw was, how even though they were looking using some of the strongest telescopic equipment made at the time, how it seemed that what they were looking at appeared 'flat' in their own words, how it seemed that the stars and planets thy looked at appeared more like 'a background made to look like space rather than space'. I also agreed when I saw the images taken by now jobless astronomers, and agreed that it seemed unnatural, and even now the strangeness of what I saw still creeps through my mind, wondering why the view of space appeared to be as it was …"

"… and now, I think the answer just made itself known."

The disturbing and horrifying realization was not lost on the Remnetians, as the belief that all of Remnant was completely locked within a massive barrier held some very dark symbolism to the group.

The screen continued.

* * *

**The scene transitioned to the night sky of Remnant, showing the forest at night as a young boy made his way through the brush, the boys features obscured by shadow and foliage. As the child walked around, he noticed how the there was a stream that appeared to be to large to cross, and looked around for a means to cross it, and found a piece of lumber from a discarded lumber pile and a large rock, the boy picked up the large rock and tossed it to the middle of the muddy stream, then placed two pieces of lumber, one on top of the other, making a ramp midway across the stream, and then used two more to finish making a little bridge to cross the stream.**

**Then the boy looked to see that there was a large amount of rocks that were blocking his way, but a looked over the pile and noticed there were spots he could safely make his way over, and the boy soon made his way safely over the pile, keeping his eyes on the exact stones to step on, before successfully making his way along the path he was walking on.**

**The boy finally arrived at his destination, finding a small hill from which he could gaze up to the heavens, a part of him always wondering what was up there, what was waiting above, a thought that always seemed to inspire a great deal of wonder in the child's mind.**

**It was on this night however, that things had become different.**

**GRAAR**

**The child was left shocked, as down the hill, he witnessed the sight of a Grimm, the destructive monsters of Remnant, though what he saw below was the most common of all Grimm, a Beowolf and it was slowly exiting the woods, preparing to charge at the boy.**

**In that moment, the child also noticed a glint in the night sky, the moon illuminating things around the boy, and thus he noticed a small glint of light rapidly falling toward where he was.**

**It was then that the Beowolf began to make a dash at the boy, ready to make the boy its next meal, but the boy moved with purpose, running in the direction he needed to run, having been to the hill many times and knowing he needed to get the timing just right.**

**The boy ducked down a small incline, the Beowolf having leapt after the boy and falling down the rather steep incline of the hill, rolling down the hill, but getting up quickly just as the boy ran back to the hill, the light of the object now brighter than before, but the boy looked at the object and then back at the Grimm, before he then came to a stop in the middle of the field, and turned to the Beowolf.**

**The beast charged, but the child stood firm against the monster, and just as the monster leapt to devour the young child …**

**SKRRRIIIIMMMM**

… **what the child had both planned and hoped would happen occurred, as a bright yet small object came down from the heavens and punched through the Beowolf in the head, completely shattering its skull before embedding itself in the ground with a loud bang and a strong rush of wind, the wind dispersing the fading body of the Beowolf and almost blowing the young boy off his feet, but then subsided, leaving only a small crater with the object at its center.**

**The boy, having regained his balance, made his way over to the crater, and looked inside.**

"**Wow, this looks amazing," the boy stated as he looked at what rested in the crater, seeing a small reflective diamond-shaped object, which both released light from itself and also showed very amazing things in its surface, the boy awed at the images of stars, worlds and so many other things that he did not see in books about the stars.**

**BIINNNG**

**Then the diamond pulsed, with a light, almost musical note being emitted from its surface, and the boy was taken slightly aback as the small diamond began to hover in place, and the boy was left wondering what it would do next.**

**Then the boy felt it, both outside and in, a gentle yet pulsing warmth, which came from both the diamond hovering before the boy and also from a spot in the boys chest, a deep feeling of warmth that seemed to stretch between the boy and the diamond.**

**The boy reached out once more, feeling as the light from the diamond was more present, able to almost physically feel the radiant warmth in his hands, and slowly, cupping the diamond in his hands, began to move the diamond closer to himself, to the warmth that seemed to resonate from deep within himself, a warmth that grew stronger the closer the diamond came. The boy began to feel the warmth pulse through his body, filling him with a … something, something that made him feel like he was more … well, MORE. The boy finally pressed the diamond to himself, and felt as the diamond seemed to just become transparent, and with no pain or harm, passed through the boys clothes and finally entered his body, merging together with the source of the warmth coming from within the boy …**

… **his heart.**

**The light softly died down, and the boy felt as the warmth settled within himself, and as he felt the strange, yet welcome power become centered and calm. The moons light soon glowed over the land as the few clouds in the sky cleared, revealing the boys full visage, a mop of blonde hair on his head, blue eyes that held a strong determination as they looked up to the night sky, the same night sky that brought the diamond to the boy.**

"**JAUNE, YOU OUT THERE, ARE YOU OKAY," came the voice of the boy's sister, and Jaune turned to where he heard he shout and quickly made his way to where she was, telling her with excitement at what had happened, his journey through the dark, looking at the sky, and how he had defeated a beowolf with a 'space rock', deciding to withhold the information regarding the diamond and it fusing with him.**

**His sister was worried a bit when the Grimm was brought up, but saw her brother was safe and after scolding the boy, then led him back to the house where the rest of his family was, happy he was okay.**

**All the while, a faint glow of radiant light was show radiating in a nearly imperceptible way from Jaune's eyes, and the feeling of completeness and wholeness filled him with a strong desire to soon find his path in life, the thing he wished to do, what he wanted most in the world.**

'**I want to help all the people I can, make everyone in my family proud, and make Remnant a better place for everyone …"**

"… **I want to be a ****huntsman****!"**

* * *

The crowd could only look on at the sight of Jaune Arc during his younger years in the reality they saw, Ironwood saw potential in Jaune's creative thinking and ability to strategize that he saw could one day surpass even himself if given the right guidance, Ozpin saw what he had seen on the first day he saw Jaune Arc, while teams RWBY and NPR witnessed his childhood, some remarking in how cute he was as a child and that he was quite clever, though Wiess remarked that while the young Jaune they saw did seem quite clever (and silently admitted he looked very cute as a child), she herself believed that the Jaune Arc that she knew was but a brainless oaf of a man who had cheated to get his way in the one of the most prestigious academies on Remnant.

"Huh, kids sure got a lot of spunk for his age, and he really does have a lot of potential just like Ozpin said, guess he was right this time," Qrow said, his outlook on Ozpin having gone down a bit after discovering Ozpin's past, though understanding what he was going through and having how bad his life could have been shoved in his face did change his perspective quite a bit.

"Indeed, this Jaune Arc may be young now, but the potential I can see is quite substantial, even the General would be quite remiss to not recognize the growth that the boys abilities could make with the proper tutelage …"

"… and with more disciplined teammates."

"Huh, what was that," Qrow said as he turned to Winter, and silently the member of NPR and RWBY were also listening to what Winter was talking about.

"If you could not realize what the real issues regarding the boy and his team are, then you are less fit to be a huntsman than even Arc himself," Winter finished, having said what she needed to.

Then the viewing continued.

* * *

**At first it seemed to Jaune Arc would be able to accomplish his dream, to become a hero to those around him, to make the world a better place for everyone, a dream that was ignited within him from the stories that were told to him by his grandparents and parents, to become heroes like the Arcs of the past.**

**It all seemed like it would go well for him …**

… **only …**

… **it didn't****.**

"Huh," came NPR and RWBY's reply, the others silently watched.

"**Jaune, your mother and I have spoken together, and right now we need you to listen to us …"**

"… **Jaune, please stop this whole huntsman business, it's not something for you, so please Jaune just, stop with this whole huntsman business."**

**That was exactly where Jaune Arc's life began to go downhill, where his life began to slowly, yet painfully, come apart at the seams.**

**Soon the books and stories regarding huntsmen had disappeared from the Arc household, his attempts to find the means to make his dream real ended in failure as all literature pertaining to huntsmen and huntsmen related subjects like Aura and Semblance had disappeared from his village. Then the next blow came from his own sisters, almost half of which were already successful huntress's, loved by everyone in the village and all had tales of many successful exploits in their journeys, and all of whom had taken the side of Jaune's parents in telling him to give up on his dream.**

**Jaune Arc was left feeling crushed, having his own family tell him to give up on the one thing he had always wanted, Jaune …**

… **Jaune did not know what to do, he felt cornered, felt as the one thing he wished for was being taken away from him.**

**Which led him to his most drastic decision yet.**

**He made enough money doing work around his village, and then in the night, he took the only weapon he could reach, that being Crocea Mors from where it was displayed as he could not get the other Arc weapons as the armory was completely locked up, then got the expanding shield from a friend he helped, and ran away from home, deciding not to return until he had accomplished his dream and proven himself to his family.**

**Thus came the events that led Jaune Arc to Beacon Academy, where he had hoped to prove himself worthy of his goal, but ended up facing hardship as he was forced to use the money had saved to hopefully better equip himself during his stay at Beacon to better fulfill his huntsman dream, only to spend basically all of it to get forged transcripts from an information dealer, which further drove him into a corner as he had to lie to get into the place he wanted to go.**

**Yet, Jaune remained adamant, he would prove himself when he got into Beacon, he would show that he had what it took, and was sure he could prove that he was worthy of being a huntsman.**

**Jaune believed everything would go well from now on, that his goal would be achieved, that his plan to become a huntsman would see him through to his goal, that all would go well …**

…

…

…

…

**His plan … did ****not**** go well.**

* * *

The group were left stunned as they saw the dreams of a boy with all the potential to be a great huntsman, suddenly denied his dream by his own parents and sisters, being told to give up on the one thing he had wanted more than anything. RWBY and NPR were starting to have flashbacks to a previous viewing, and hoping it did not go as bad as the previous one did, while the adults in the room were already seeing that the viewing was about to take a strong, negative turn.

"Oh man, this kids life is gonna get worst, hopefully it doesn't get to bad for him," Qrow said, already seeing the Jaune Arc was about to get a major negative turn in his life.

* * *

**He had made it through initiation, had made a team and led that team to victory against a powerful Grimm during the initiation, he thought that from there on it would work out and things would go well for him.**

**Then it went straight downhill.**

**He was forced to experience, again and again his shortcomings, his losses against the school bully Cardin Winchester, who beat Jaune both in battle and during school hours, hounding Jaune as much as he did many of the faunas students, but almost especially Jaune. Then came his attempts to show a girl he saw as quite beautiful and lovely to notice him, using the methods that his father had said he had used to win the heart of his mother, but this only served to make his crush see him as annoying at best and outright hostile toward him at worst, though Jaune still tried to show her that he meant what he felt, which of course amounted to nothing in the end. Then there was the issue of his own classes, with the young Arc struggling left right and center to try and make things work, only for most of his work to wind up being mostly mediocre or barely above failure, which further weighed on Jaune's mind. Yet he persevered, choosing to continue, to keep trying to reach his goal, believing that those he called friends would stand by him, and help him reach his goal, his dream of becoming a huntsman.**

**He believed in them, and thought that they would aid him …**

… **unfortunately, they did not feel the same way, ****at ALL****.**

**The truth of his entry into Beacon Academy came out, the lie that was his false transcripts and his lack of any real training.**

**His partner on team JNPR, Pyrrha Nikos, turned on him, no longer able to support him or his goal knowing that he had lied to enter Beacon. Then was his time with Cardin who had discovered his lie and blackmailed him over it, leading to the events that would transpire in the forever fall forest, in which a terrible prank that backfired led to an attack by an Ursa Major, and led to Jaune fighting the beast, and in another life, it would be through the subtle aid of a certain 'polarity' user that would allow him to win …**

… **only this time, that aid never happened …**

… **though for Jaune Arc, it turned out he did not need that aid.**

**Jaune Arc fought the beast, he was swatted around by the monster strength, but through the fight, his more analytical mind began to come to the forefront, and through the course of the fight, he guided the Ursa through the forest, until he found where would end the fight.**

**At the edge of a small incline, Jaune fought the Grimm, and through guiding the beast, caused it to lose its balance on the incline, causing the beast to fall on the Arc, who ducked a strike and propped his sword against the ground, and compacting his shield as well before also propping it up.**

**The Ursa fell on the blade and shield, the two objects piercing into the Ursa's body, becoming lodged in it flesh, while Jaune himself barely managed to keep his Aura up through the Ursa's 'body slam', but was left dazed on the ground as the Ursa got up, ready to strike.**

**Then the shield unfolded itself, INSIDE the Ursa Major, tearing apart a large part of its body, and the Grimm could only fall backward, and burst into ash as the damage it sustained from the attack ended it.**

**Jaune had won, he had fought an elder Grimm by himself, and won.**

**Sadly, this victory did little to change the opinions of his partner, his team, and their sister team who had lost all respect for him, due to their belief that they earned their place at Beacon Academy, while in their eyes, Jaune had done nothing to deserve being at Beacon Academy, and soon both his team and his sister team, as well as a number of first years had begun to shun him, which further drove the young Arc deeper into depression.**

**Yet, all was not lost, for his meaningful actions, such as making it through orientation, defeating an elder Grimm by himself and saving the life of his own bully, who had come to the Arc's defense due to owing Jaune his life, had made some of the older years see Jaune as someone who deserved the chance to continue on in Beacon, and also was Ozpin himself who came to Jaune's defense, stating that he had already known about his transcripts, but stated that he also saw Jaune's potential to succeed, and this helped Jaune believe he could continue on at Beacon.**

**Though sadly, his team and team RWBY may as well have been deaf for all that was said, for they ended up making things hard for Jaune, never helped him with his problems, bullied him for his lies (mostly from Yang and Wiess), and even kicked him out of team (J)NPR's dorm room, causing Jaune to find other places to try and sleep, and making his time at Beacon that much harder.**

**Jaune Arc was being further pushed into a corner, he was honestly feeling like he was getting closer to the end of his rope, that things were only getting worse as time went on.**

**Jaune was trapped, not knowing what to do, and unable to truly show his worth, and began to believe that he truly was worthless and that his victories were all just luck and chance, and that in truth, his power, his Aura, his own skill and strength had not won him his victories and that he was truly worthless.**

**What Jaune had failed to realize, was that it was never his skill, strength, or even his Aura that was his true worth, none of those things were what made him who he was, in actuality, his strength lay in the one true defining trait that was unique not only to Jaune, but to humanity and faunas-kind in general, one of the main defining traits that allowed both human and faunas to become what they were at the present time.**

**His true worth …**

**/-WISDOM-/**

**Yet Jaune never realized his worth, was unable to figure out his true strength, as the scorn of his friends made trying to get better even harder and more painful than it should have been.**

**As these events played out, the scene shifted to the triangle once more, focusing on the gold, which had begun to further darken, and soon, splotches of darkness began to coat the surface of the gold line, causing the gold to darken and become faded, with cracks appearing on its surface, causing the line to become ruined in look.**

**The line was soon marred with darkness and damage, and through this line, was the state of Jaune Arc's soul known, a beaten, despairing and unrealized potential that was being further beaten and damaged by the ignorance and inaction of those who in truth …**

… **willingly ignored the potential that could be, and only saw the lie that they themselves created.**

**The lie that was Jaune Arc, the worthless cheater of Beacon Academy.**

* * *

Team's RWBY and NPR were both screaming out against the actions of themselves on the screen, even Wiess surprisingly, who saw the actions of her other self as 'going too far', but also cringing from the sharp and quite unhappy glare of her older sister, which made her feel even worse, especially as she had to remember being compared to her father, the one person she wanted most of all to never be like.

"Haah, I knew I should have tried to teach you two more about the real meaning of being a huntsman, guess I should have done more," Qrow said, knowing how Ruby and Yang had a very immature view of good and bad.

Ironwood, Ozpin, and Glynda also made notes to at least try to make time for lessons concerning the need for those coming into Beacon to understand that all who apply to Beacon are to equally be given a chance, and that anything that happens before means nothing, whether good or ill once one enters the halls of any Academy, and only those with truly unforgivable past actions will be denied.

* * *

**However, Jaune Arc may not have known it yet, but his journey had only just begun, a journey that would see him leave the path of the Huntsman …**

… **for something, so much more.**

**Jaune's path, life and very existence would soon change, and it would be a path he would not walk alone.**

…

…

…

**The only one thing Jaune would never suspect, is that he would have others walk next to 'him', but it would not be his so-called friends, teammates, his teachers nor even his family.**

**Yet those who would stand by him, would become his lifelong companions to rise against a darkness, one greater than any that had ever or would ever exist on the surface of Remnant.**

**The only real irony is that it would be 'darkness' that would stand against Darkness.**

* * *

The group could only be left feeling perplexed as the cryptic message they were given from what was being spoken.

They would soon come to understand what it meant, though what came next …

… was a massive shock.

* * *

**The second line, a bright yet dark silver, soon began to brighten, as the line was approached by the second diamond, and as the diamond approached, the scene shifted.**

**The Diamond shot through a bright daylit sky, falling through the sky of Remnant …**

… **no, to the world that existed before Remnant.**

**On the surface, a fortress was under siege, a citadel that was placed against a sheer rock face, the high walls of the fortress facing a grand plain.**

**The fortress was under siege, a massive army of countless warriors enshrouded in dark armor, launched massive attacks against the defenders, who wore ornate gold armor sending attacks back at the attacking army. However, it was not by the means of Remnant that the battle was waged, there were no guns, cannons, nor even dust.**

**No, what the warriors used …**

… **was MAGIC.**

**Immense spheres of dark black and pure white fire were unleashed by the soldiers, dark robbed magic users of the dark army united their magic, and from this came a monstrous dark storm, with dozens of dark vortexes wreathed in ferocious lightning were lanced at the fortress while white robed individuals in the main citadel of the fortress united their magic, creating a massive dome of magic around the whole fortress, stopping the vortex's as they slammed down onto the dome. All along the walls, massive catapults were launching spheres that were filled with massive amounts of raw magic, detonating in massive explosions amongst the dark armored warriors forcing the warriors to create their own barriers of magic, some able to take the attack while others were vaporized from existence from the blasts, some of the dark army took to the sky, attempting to clear the wall and attack the main citadel, only to be either blasted out of the sky by powerful lightning and fire magics, or skewered completely by magic infused arrows, some creating magic barriers to protect themselves from the attacks, some survived and made it back to the dark army, while others were either vaporized from the bolts or fell to earth with arrows punched through their torsos.**

**The battle was ancient in its setting, but the destruction vastly surpassed anything that the current Remnant could ever hope to achieve, unless Remnant decided to seek destructive power, which would happen someday … someday.**

**For now, the battle had become a stalemate, the two sides now equally matched as the battle raged on.**

* * *

Horrified silence echoed, the group now looking to see the true power of magic, and they could all easily see the power difference in comparison to the maidens much less to huntsmen, the sheer terrifying power of the magic users of the first humanity, and how the magic they saw was as versatile as it was powerful.

"Arvia …"

The group turned to the one who spoke, "… Ozpin"

Ozpin turned to the group, though with a different air to him, "I, no, 'Ozma' knows very well of this battle," Ozpin turned to the screen, cane before him and a gaze harder than stone in his eyes, "the Battle of Arvia Citadel, fought between the defending soldiers of the holy kingdom of Acala and the attacking army of the dark kingdom of Umbra, the Umbrans were fighting to take over the continent, and the kingdom of Acala was the only truly major power that could stand directly against them, so the smaller kingdoms on the continent united with the holy kingdom to fight against the dark kingdom and its desire to dominate the whole continent. I, as Ozma, was one of the warriors who fought in that war as an traveling warrior, for the sake of the people and the right to freedom against the forces of the dark kingdom, in fact it was during that war that Ozma became the legendary hero of the era due to his actions in the war, including his part in bringing about many of its greatest victories, even helping to end the war with the defeat of the kingdom of Umbra," Ozpin then went silent, the look of a someone experiencing a terrible memory, "and also a great many regrets, and one of the greatest regrets, one that I had hoped to forget but even now haunts me, …"

"… was the fall of Arvia Citadel … and the death of a dear friend."

The group were left shocked and stunned, now learning how much more there really was to the many they know as Ozpin, and that he was not only part of a war that they could all agree was far worse than anything that they witnessed in their viewing of their reality, but to the older members of the group, was far more destructive than even the so called 'Great War', by a massive margin. Also learning that the man they now knew was a man named Ozma in the first humanity had not only fought in such a horrifying war, but had helped to end it …

… the thoughts of the group were left in disarray as they could not even begin to fathom what Ozpin was feeling now, seeing a memory of what his past was.

* * *

**Then, the battle shifted, for within the fortress, dark shadows had begun to move through the depths of the citadel, and with this the battle turned …**

… **for the worse.**

**Two knights who stood before a door leading to the inner chambers of the citadel were listening to the battle that happened outside, knowing that the battle had become a stalemate, and that the fighting was still going on, but they stood guard against anything that came.**

**It was then to talk that the knight with a maroon cape decided to talk to the other knight who wore a yellow cape.**

"**Hey …"**

"**Yeah"**

"**Have you ev-GAAAAHHH"**

**A blade wreathed in black flame was punched clean through the chest of the maroon knight, splashing blood and ash onto the blue knight.**

"**WHAT THE … GUH!"**

**Another blade was pierced through the head of the yellow knight, tearing through his helmet, blood and ash falling to the ground, and with swiftness, the blades were withdrawn from the dead bodies of the knights, the bodies falling to the ground in a bloody heap as the killers stood tall.**

**Both assailants wore dark clothing with some black armor pieces imbedded into the clothes, with hoods covering the heads, and on their faces were pitch black masks with two eyeholes and nothing else.**

**The dark kingdoms infamous assassins, the Umbral Blades.**

"**I wonder what they were gonna talk about," one of the assassins said, while the other stated, "nothing important, likely just some mindless chatter."**

**In the darkness, more of Umbral Blades began to appear from the darkness, and at the head of them was an Umbral Blade, wielding a large blade that appeared more like a huge meat cleaver, more armor on their body, and the mask was filled with many red fractures on one side that stretched out from the eyehole and covered half the mask.**

"**The fall of this fortress is just a matter of time, split our groups up, the first group are to destroy the siege weapons and magic ritual spots that are empowering the defenders on the wall, the second group will disperse through the fortress, destroying weapons storage rooms, food stocks, anything that helps the Acalan scum defend this place, the third group will breach the wall so that our army may enter," the leader of the Umbral Blades involved in the attack turned to a more heavily armed and armored battalion of Umbral Blades, "****we**** will attack the heart of the citadel itself and destroy the barrier at its source."**

**With the that, the Umbral Blades made their move.**

**On the wall, the Acalan defenders were focused on fighting and defending against the attacks by the Umbral army, only for blades and focused magic attacks to start cutting the soldiers down from behind with terrifying swiftness, the Umbral Blades, empowered by their magic, moved with such speed that they seemed to almost be teleporting to their targets, their blades punching through the weak points in the Acalan warriors armor, striking the neck, face and parts of the arms and legs, while others used magic empowered dark fire blades to punch through the Acalans armor, and this distraction allowed many of the flying Umbral warriors to make their way onto the wall, adding the own attack spells to the Umbral Blades attacks, causing the defense to descend into chaos. Within the fortress, Acalan warriors made their way through the fortress, moving to reinforce the defenses before the Umbral armor could start breaking through, then came several explosions as magic-laced bombs exploded in the weapon and food stocks, and throughout the citadel Umbral Blades moved at the same terrifying speeds, knocking out the torches that lit up the inside of many of the fortresses buildings, moving through the darkness, cutting down the Acalan defenders like wheat before a gardeners scythe, which was ironic as an Umbral Blade wielding a dark flame scythe made her way through the fortress, gleefully severing the necks of Acalan warriors while giggling with glee. Yet the fiercest of the fighting was taking place at the heart of the Citadel.**

**In the heart of the citadel looking from a high point of the citadel at the chaos, a single warrior wearing a gray robe and light armor with two swords at their hilt, and the hood fell back from a gust of wind, revealing the aged face of a woman in her early fifties, her hair was a dark blue that was largely graying but her steel blue eyes held the fierce determination of a veteran warrior, and she saw the approach of the Umbral Blades led by the Umbral Blade leader, and she leapt from the Citadel tower, and with ease and grace, landed on the main causeway that led into the heart of the citadel, with several elite Acalan Knights and almost a hundred Acalan warriors.**

"**Sage Aria," a warrior spoke.**

"**It's the Great Sage, Aria Enel, we can win this," one of the Acalan elites stated, as the Great Sage, Aria Enel stood before the defenders.**

"**Knight of Acala, stand firm, stand strong, not a single Umbra will make it through this causeway alive, we will hold them here, for the people, for the Kingdom, and for all of your brothers and sisters in arms, living or dead," with that Aria Enel pulled out both of her blades, and both became wreathed in flames of bright blue and deep red.**

**The Umbral Blades made their way onto the causeway, and proceeded to charge at the defenders, and with one word, the Acalan warriors led by Aria engaged the enemy.**

"**ATTACK!"**

**Thus, the battle for the heart of Arvia Citadel began.**

* * *

"Master …"

The group turned as one to Ozpin, seeing his face with the emotion of fear and pain in his eyes, a look that left them stunned into silence, especially at the word Ozpin had used.

Ozpin swallowed down a breath, and turned to the group, tears at the edge of his eyes, and spoke a revelation that further shocked the group.

"Aria Enel, she was the hailed as the greatest mage knight in the world, a hero to kingdoms both great and small, and the only known warrior at the time to killed three Colossus-class Grimm and their respective hordes … in a single day … by herself," the utterly stunned looks on the groups faces and Yang silently whispering the word 'damn' under her breath all but cemented what they felt, then Ozpin continued, "and also, she was … 'Ozma's' and by extension, my master, everything I knew, be it magic, swordsmanship, knowledge and strength … it was all from her that I gained the means to fight, that Ozma became the hero he was, all through her tutelage and training … and even then I knew, that no matter how far I went with my skill, no matter how great my magic was, I knew that I would never amount to even half of what she accomplished, not then … and beyond any assurance, not now."

The shock came in full, as they had heard of Ozpins past as Ozma, but never anything clear, but knowing that the woman they saw was not only even stronger than Ozma but was also the one who allowed Ozma to become a hero … there were simply no words.

Then came the phrase that made it very clear why Ozpin was acting like he was and horrified them further at what was likely going to happen.

"… and it was in … in the battle of Arvia Citadel … tha-that she would … lose her life."

* * *

**The battle on the causeway had begun, and the ferocity of the fighting was truly horrific, the Umbral Blades weaved through the Acalan warriors, their blades severing limbs, cutting of arms and even stabbing through the armor of the warriors, but the battle was not one sided.**

**HYAAA, SQIISSH**

**The Magic imbued halberd of an Acalan elite warrior sliced apart two Umbral Blades and tore the arm off of a third, leaving the Umbral Blade to stumble back as they went into shock, only for an Acalan warrior to drive a spear through the Blade, killing them on the spot. In another spot, a group of Acalans, all heavily injured and having used most of their magic were surrounded by several Umbral Blades, it seemed like the end for them, but then …**

**SCHI, SCHH, SCHII**

**In but an instant the heads of all the Umbral Blades were severed, and they all fell over, dead.**

"**Sage Aria!"**

**Aria Enel, wielding her magic swords had in but an instant severed the heads of the Umbral Blades, then as six Blades rushed at her, moving at their immense speed, and seemed to be about ready to end Enel's life …**

… **unfortunately, Enel was faster.**

**At a speed that none, not even the blades could perceive, she cut down every last one, their bodies cut apart in countless parts, littering the ground with their bodies, which suddenly were ignited in white flame, the fire instantly burning the bodies to nothing, and Aria stood in the middle of the conflagration, but she had started to breath quite heavily from the fighting.**

"**Dang, I guess my age is starting to catch up with me," Aria stated as she felt a bit stiff from her exertion, but instinctively swung her left arm twice, parrying a blow from an Umbral Blade and cutting down that same Blade.**

**Then her sense of danger kicked in, and she jumped away as an Acalan elite whose body was swallowed in flame was sent hurtling right past where she was and crashed into the wall behind her.**

**Aria immediately parried a blow using her blades, clashing against the giant cleaver of the Umbral Blade leader as they pushed down on Aria with their weapon, "well, isn't this a surprise, the Great Sage and hero of Holy Kingdom," the leader spoke through the mask, only for a chuckle to escape the lips of Aria, as she looked straight into the face of the Umbral Blade leader.**

**Yes, it really is a surprise, a surprise to see how a member of the Umbral kingdoms royal family to actually show up here," the sudden shock that the leader felt allowed Aria to swing the blade aside and immediately cut much of the leaders armor and destroyed the mask while cutting through … ****her**** eye, revealing the face of a young woman with short raven black hair and aquamarine eyes, though one of those eyes had been cut through and was now bleeding, "isn't that right, 'princess' Noire."**

**The now identified Umbral Princess reeled back as the pain in her eye began to subside, and she soon glared with rage at Aria, "you BITCH, I am going to cut you up into so many little pieces …"**

**Then she suddenly smiled slightly, and began to chuckle with a creepily even tone, "… but first."**

**Noire then took a strong leap backward, and the others Umbral Blades also leapt backwards as well, and Aria could only realize why in shock before she turned to look at the roof of the citadel, and to her horror saw several Umbral Blades surrounding several large magic bombs that they had brought with them, and could not even react as the Umbral's drove their magic-laced blades into the bombs.**

**KRAAAKKAAAABBBOOOOOOOOMMMM**

**The bombs exploded in a massive blast of wild magics, annihilating the Umbral's that were around the bombs … and completely blowing up the heart of the citadel, killing the magic users who were keeping the barrier up, and destroying many buildings around the now destroyed heart.**

**Aria had created the strongest magic field around herself that she could and ended up digging herself out of the debris of a fallen building, and soon saw as the battle had immediately turned in the Umbral armies favor.**

**The barrier had collapsed, and with its fall, the 'umbral storm' that the enemy army had created began to tear apart the fortress, eviscerating buildings and outright eviscerating the Acalan's who were in the path of the vortexes, the magic barriers being all but useless against raw destructive power of the 'Umbral storm', reducing all Acalans caught in the field to nothing.**

**BTOOOOMM**

**Aria then saw as a powerful blast brought down the walls of the fortress, and from the hole came a charging horde of Umbral warriors, unleashing blade, arrow and magic on the remaining Acalan defenders, and with the remaining defenders immediately standing to defend themselves against the Umbral forces, and they gave a valiant defense, but the Acalan's knew that they were only delaying the inevitable as the Umbral tore through the defenders.**

**Aria herself had realized how the battle had now turned for the worse, rushing through the fortress, cutting down what Umbral warriors were in her way as she tried to see any way to salvage the situation …**

… **she found none, and then she attacked.**

**CLANG**

"**Your life ends here Great Sage," shouted Umbral Princess Noire, with Aria parrying the princess's giant cleaver, and managed to force her back, only to have to dodge a pitch black fireball that upon hitting the ground seemed to burn the stone pathway she had been on into a deep crater of dark glass.**

**Aria gazed at the one who performed the attack, the attacker standing next to Noire.**

"**Now this is a real treat, both the Umbral Princess Noire and the Umbral Prince Victor," Aria stated, readying her blades as before her stood the prince and princess of the Kingdom of Umbra now stood before her.**

"**Ah, the legendary Great Sage, Aria Enel, hehehe, your head will make an excellent trophy to present to father," Prince Victor stated, the utter beast of a man clad in dark, spiked armor, a blood red cape on his back, wielding a truly massive sword, a Zweihander in his hands, the blade wreathed in dark red and black flames, and the prince's head was exposed save for a spiked crown, face having many scars, eyes the same color as the princess but with a far more feral look in them and black hair that was long and horribly unkempt.**

"**Let's kill her brother, and let's make it hurt," stated the Princess Noire, the Umbral royal with a feral look in her eyes that was almost comparable to her brothers as they both made ready to attack.**

**Aria only had a look of defiance on her face as she stood tall against both, making ready to fight, even as she knew that this was a fight that she would not claim victory, the end she knew where she would fight her last …**

… **this was the place where she would die.**

**She then spoke, the words to signal the last fight in her life.**

"**What are you waiting for, come and die you abominations against true royalty."**

**With a vicious scream, the two Umbral royals charged, and Aria met their charge, meeting their attacks, all the while taking a retreating run, making her way deeper into the fortress, parrying and blocking the attacks of Victor and Noire as they did everything in their power to kill her, unleashing magics of every kind at Aria as she blocked their attacks and parried their strikes, all while keeping the two Umbral's moving, but Aria knew that she herself was growing exhausted as she went on fighting, while her opponents were also tiring and had received several deep cuts from Aria's blades, but were both young and had energy to spare.**

**Aria then ended up being blocked off by a big chunk of falling debris and saw there was no way to get around it, and thus was set the final battle between her and the Umbral royals.**

**The battle began, and the ferocity was beyond comprehension, attacks from magic blades, massive bolts of element and pure energy magics, and the very ground was torn apart around the trio, the three attacks hitting with the force of a localized natural disaster, tearing apart where they fought, but as the battle progressed, the more injured the Aria became, having multiple cuts and burns all over her body, and her body beginning to fail on her, yet she made sure to leave her mark as the prince had lost an eye and the armor covering his chest and left arm had been torn away, and there was a deep bleeding wound in his torso from Aria's sword strike while Noire had much of her hair burnt off, had her left arm hanging limply by her side with a deep cut in it and a cut on her head that caused blood to drip into her vision. Everyone was heavily injured and all unsure as to how the battle would end.**

"**TAKE THIS," yelled Victor as he brought his blade stabbing into the ground, unleashing his magic into the ground, causing a massive fissure to open up, sending large stone spears at Aria, but before she could move, the floor they all stood on collapsed downward, causing the spell to fail and dropping all three into the catacombs beneath the citadel.**

**It was here that Aria met her end, as the dust kicked up by the impact had distorted her vision and she had broken her right arm in the fall, leaving her with only her left arm. Then she instinctively parried a strike from Noire's giant cleaver, yet it was not Noire but Victor wielding the blade, and that brief lapse in concentration was instantly lethal.**

**SKRRSSCCCHHHH**

**Noire, wielding Victors Zweihander pierced the blade straight through Aria's torso and out the back into an object behind her, and thus the Great Sage was dealt a fatal blow, now stuck with giant sword lodged in her torso and stuck to something else.**

"**We did it brother, we took down the Great Sage!"**

"**Hehe-HAHAHA, father will be overjoyed at this news, with her death there is nothing to stop our march, the Kingdom of Umbra will dominate the wor-, what, WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING!"**

**Aria was weakly chuckling under her breath, then with the same look of defiance that she had before, looked both the Umbral royals in the eye.**

"**PFFRRSCH, *cough*, don't you … get it … I knew I wasn't … gonna make it, so all I did was led you …. Hmph, exactly … were I needed to," with that Aria pressed her hand to the blade still embedded in her, and a blaze of pure white flame erupted from the blade, causing Aria to catch on fire an shooting into the object she was pinned to …**

… **which was one of several hundred of magic laced containers that filled the catacombs, and Aria had ignited the first bomb.**

**The royals had not time to either scream or run as a massive fireball of raw, wild magics consumed them all, killing Aria and the Umbral Prince and Princess, with Aria having one last though as her body was consumed by the blast.**

'**Ozma … I leave the rest to you … my student.'**

* * *

No one said a word, the sheer impact of what had happened had left the viewers all but silent at what they had seen transpire, seeing that the woman who had created the powerful hero Ozma, now the nowhere near as powerful and ambiguously heroic Ozpin, in such a fierce and awe-striking battle against such powerful opponents and even when cut down had succeeded in taking both of them with her. No words were found, all silent at the result of the battle, but all turned to Ozpin, and seeing him with his head bowed, and silently muttering at the screen, and realized what it was as they heard, which shocked them as they heard.

It was a prayer, or at least it sounded like a prayer, tears softly coming from Ozpins closed eyes as he silently muttered what they knew was a prayer in a language that none of them new, and then he opened his eyes as he stood looking at the screen, wiping the tears from his eyes, "thank you my master, know that even now, I hold your ideals close to my heart in everything I do, but I can only offer my feeble apologies for my failures … if only you were here …."

Ozpin trailed off at that point, the group only able to look stunned at what they were seeing, but Ruby decided to break the tension.

"S-so, wh-what ha-happened at t-the end," Ruby asked as she tried to break the tension in any way she could.

Ozpin then had a hard look in his eyes, as if struggling to come to terms with something, then he took a deep breath and released that breath before he spoke, "At the end of the battle, with the death of the Umbral Prince and Princess the Umbral soldiers had been driven into a mad frenzy, and they immediately began to cut down any Acalan they could find, not even those who surrendered were spared, and the Umbral's had almost completely encircled the Citadel … it should have ended in the greatest loss of life in the entire war, however it ended up being the Umbral's that were driven away from the very fortress they conquered and the surviving Acalans saved …"

The group were happy to hear that the end of the battle at least had a slightly better ending than what they believed would happen … then were left unable to form words out of incomprehensible shock as the next words out of Ozpins mouth caused this response, along with a sense expectation at the final part.

" …. And it was the Grimm that saved them, though more specifically … it was THEM."

* * *

"**THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS ARE DEAD!"**

"**KILL THE ACALAN FITLH!"**

"**DEATH TO ACALA, DEATH TO OUR ENEMIES!"**

**The Umbral's, upon learning of the deaths of their sovereigns, began to hunt down the Acalan's within the fortress, cutting down any they came across and driving the few survivors into a single corner of the fallen citadel, the surviving Acalan's now trapped around a single large tower as it seemed that the end would come.**

**All the while, dark visage looked down from on high, the observer being in the form of one of the many dark beasts that roam the world, the monsters that the humans have cut down since the beginning of their history, the dark creation of the Brother god of destruction, a beast of Grimm …**

… **only this one, was so much more.**

**SKRIIIIEEEEEE**

**A thin beam of bright blue shot through the throng of Umbral warriors, slicing through an entire battalion of Umbrals, many of whom put up barriers only for the beam to slice through the barriers with not even an ounce of resistance, then the area where the beam had cut through then ignited into a blast of purple/blue flame, the blaze swallowing up hundreds of Umbral warriors who were near the line, incinerating the hundred in an instant and killing or maiming countless more from the shock wave.**

**The source of the attack soon appeared, and all humans on both sides felt as intense fear had gripped their hearts.**

**The source of their fear had landed on the fallen remains of a tower, pitch black wings of unfurled outward, with the edges of the feathers on the wings slicing the remaining parts of the tower, revealing the wings to be sharper than blades. The creature bore a resemblance to the Grimm known as the Sphinx, yet it had a multitude of differences. The first were that its paws were much thinner and had a greater amount of muscle on the legs, and the claws themselves were not the bleached white of others of its kind, but were instead pitch black with a distinctive shine to them, were longer, looking more like hooked swords than claws, and the bony protrusions that were on its limbs were also dark black and covered most of its legs and body, though looked more like armor than bone. The next were its wings, in which there were four wings instead of two like what was on a standard Sphinx, and the wings had a greater wingspan as well as the outer edges of the wings being lined with the same dark material as the rest of the body, and its long wings on top of having a sharpness that easily surpassed that of the finest blades that had ever been forged by humanity, but also held a shine comparable to the not often found black diamonds that were sometimes unearthed, only they appeared able to cut through diamond. Then came its most obvious difference other than its size which was almost double that of even and Ancient Sphinx which was its face, a face that completely lacked the mask known to be on all Grimm, instead having small growths of the dark metal growing in a slightly spaced angled manner from the front of its head and around to the long dark horns on the top of its head near its ears, and in place of the Grimm pattern that would be seen on a Grimm mask in red was instead a purple pattern of curves on its skin that had a slight glow to them, with the patterns largely focused around its eyes, its deep purple eyes, one of which had a cross-shaped scar over the eyelid along with multiple other scars that covered its body from the many battles it faced.**

**The Grimm gazed at the humans with its purple eyes, which glowed slightly with a sense of strong intention, though its gaze was not on the Acalan's but instead on the Umbral's its gaze slightly turned to the large crater that was created from Aria Enel's final gambit, and a soft gaze seemed to pass through its visage as it saw Aria's swords having been blown clear and left sticking out in a crossed way near the crater …**

… **then its eyes lit up with a visage of rage as it witnessed the Umbral's who had been preparing to use their magic to destroy the blades, and from its throat came a powerful, almighty roar.**

**SKRIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

**This roar was answered by four other roars.**

**AAAARRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOO**

**ROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR**

**KRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE**

**KRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA**

**The Umbral warriors that had been outside the fortress had little time to react when several hundreds of their number were suddenly cut down by the sharpest of claws as a large form dashed among their ranks, cutting down their numbers, and soon the assailant was revealed. It appeared to be a slightly larger from of an Alpha Beowolf, only it had the same 'dark bone' extensions as the 'Sphinx', though these seemed to frame it body, giving it a more intimidating look than that of Beowolf, its form appearing more humanoid than Beowolves along with it having a more balanced form and greater muscle on the legs, it also was quite intimidating as there were countless injuries covering its form in deep gashes, burns and punctures, and the claws on its arms were like a smaller version of the 'Sphinx's' claws, though thinner and appeared to be made solely for cutting, it also had purple eyes, similar purple patterns and lacked a Grimm mask.**

**Near were the 'Beowolf' had emerged, the ground had suddenly erupted into a cascade of sharpend stone, the rocks shooting off into the bodies of the Umbral warriors, many who were able to stop the earthly shrapnel, but not the being that caused the attack as it tore through the shields and barriers the Umbrals used to stop the attacks, tearing through their ranks with terrifying ease, the attacker becoming clear as the dust settled. The beast resembled an even large version of the Ursa, lacking a mask and with purple eyes, but the purple patterns extended from the head and went up to large spines located around the back and sides of the creature, all of 'dark bone' including a large amount on its chest that acted as armor, and the patterns glowed strongly, causing the earth around the 'Ursa' to spike and fissure, extending out of the ground and hovering around its body, the beast glaring into the very souls of the Umbral's as it prepared to attack.**

**Then from the sky, a burst of purple flame erupted outward, burning away the 'Umbral Storm' from the sky, along with almost a hundred feathers glowing the same fiery purple, all stabbing into the ground amongst the Umbral army or even into the bodies of Umbral soldiers, shields and barriers proving little to no resistance, even trying to hide behind the few walls and buildings did nothing to stop the volley of arrows that punched through any defense into the ground, then as one the feathers erupted among the Umbral's in large blasts of dark flame that almost a few thousand of the Umbral's army dead, the flames reaching up to the sky as the avian attacker was revealed. With the form of a Nevermore wreathed in the glow of purple fire, a large wingspan that was covered with purple patterns, a mask-less face and dark purple eyes and 'dark bone covering much of its main body and wings as well as making up its beak, the 'Nevermore' held itself aloft above the terrified Umbrals, who felt like death itself had come from above …**

… **not realizing that it was below them as well.**

**The ground erupted at the very heart of the Umbral army, and from the ground came a large serpentine being, bearing a strong resemblance to a King Tiajitu, though with purple eyes, a lack of a mask with the 'dark bone' instead creating a spiky frill on the top of the snakes head and around the eyes, loosely resembling a crown, and with glowing patterns stretching from its face down its body, though the marks were solid red, and the reason why soon came when the Taijitu unleashed a stream of blazing red flame into the Umbral army, returning magic attacks beginning to strike the beast, damaging it and leaving large scars on its body. Then freezing waves of ice, shocks of lightning, rupturing torrents of stone, accelerated bursts of water and blasts of raw gravity were unleashed onto the battlefield as the full form of the Grimm emerged, revealing a massive four legged reptilian monster with six heads, all similar to the other but with the patterns emitting their own colors as the six headed beast unleashed a terrifying roar from its six heads, as well as releasing blasts of magic from their mouths that proceeded to devastate the Umbral legions, annihilating hundreds of Umbral magic warriors, few surviving as their magic barriers struggled against the attacks of the six headed monster.**

**The Umbral legions began to fall apart at the seams as the nightmarish Grimm had arrived and had begun to annihilate their entire legion, the sheer ridiculousness of what was happening was not lost on any of the warriors of the Umbral legion, including the remaining leader, the Umbral Commander, as their force was more than powerful enough to not only annihilate even the greatest of hordes but even assault the largest known Grimm lairs and destroy the pools of Annihilation that birthed the beasts with concentrated magic.**

**Not these monsters, these beasts that stood above even the mightiest of all Grimm known to the kingdoms of the world yet were so vastly different from the beasts of Grimm that they were almost a separate existence to the Grimm. These monsters were known throughout the world as the first true creations of the God of Destruction, and unlike the Grimm the God of Destruction had gifted onto these beasts and several others the power of magic, as well as blessing them with not only greater strength but even a higher form of intellect and awareness, but the most shocking fact of the beasts that was known the world over, was the fact that the beasts had been known to strike against Grimm as well as lead them, though when they led Grimm hordes, those hordes would almost become like a true army, striking with efficiency and even using tactics ranging from simple to complex, many time resulting in the hordes victory. However, not even these facts were the most shocking things about the beings …**

… **no, the fact that was most shocking in regard to the unique beasts of the God of destruction, was how they had been known to render aid …**

… **to ****humans****, a fact that had been proven many times throughout history, though it was largely toward humans that had gained the beasts attention.**

**What stood before the Umbral legions, between the legion and the surviving Acalan's, were the God of Destruction's most powerful creations, beings that were gifted with a strength and wit that none of the Brother God's lesser creations, the beasts of Grimm, had or ever would have.**

**To those who knew of and revered the brother gods, though mostly the God of Creation, the beasts were known as 'The Apostles of Destruction' …**

… **but to the world at large, and even to those who were aware of their true origin, they knew of them by a largely incorrect moniker, incorrect but used nonetheless, an Umbral soldier, body shaking with terror, speaking this (incorrect) name …**

"**Grimm …. Champions"**

**Then an almighty roar erupted from the Champions …**

… **and the slaughter commenced.**

* * *

"Oh, Oh Gods," Glynda stated, looking at the screen, which showed the slaughter of the Umbral legion, seeing as hordes of people with power that surpassed the maidens by a massive margin, were being cut down like wheat before the might of the Grimm Champions, the Champions using power that Glynda could say with total confidence, could utterly annihilate not only Beacon Academy, but the entirety of Vale.

Ironwood had an iron grip on his seat as he witnessed the terrifying power of the Champions, witnessing their might and knowing that the first thing he would do when he gets back to Remnant, was to completely overhaul the entirety of Atlas's military infrastructure, consequences be damned, because with what he was seeing, if the Champions were real and they did rise and attack Atlas, he could honestly see Atlas's mighty air fleet as well as Atlas itself fall from the sky at the power of the Grimm Champions.

The rest of the group were left feeling terrified, horrified and utterly hopeless at the very thought of encountering a Grimm Champion, Yang having gone completely silent as all bravado had left her, leaving her truly frightened as she held her 'girl-friend' Blake, who was holding onto Yang in fear as the massacre continued on the screen. Wiess held Ruby to her chest as the young girl could no longer stand to see the slaughter anymore, Ruby silently crying as the sound of humans being cut down like nothing continued, and team NPR were also stunned with horror, especially Ren and Nora who were starting to have flashbacks to their traumatic pasts, with Pyrrha reacting horror at what happened.

"The Grimm Champions," the group turned to Ozpin as he spoke once more, "a term that even now does not fit with the true nature of these beings, for in truth, they were in fact not created like the Grimm through the pools of annihilation, but instead were brought into existence directly by the God of Destruction himself, in a way they were his 'apostles' whose existence was means to spread his 'gospel', an action that only served to make the people of my time further distance themselves from him. As for the Grimm Champions we are seeing now, the sphinx like one is known as Echidna, the beowolf like one is Fenrir, the Ursa like one was called Callisto, the blazing Nevermore was known as Pheonix, and the unique three headed taijitu with a reptilian body was known as Hydra …"

" … these are just five of nine known Grimm Champions, and while I know you wish to know the identity of the remaining four, I only recalled these beasts because I saw them, which brought back my memories, and the rest of my knowledge had waned through the ages since I never had to encounter them in the current world. Though now I recall two of the four, with one in fact being the embodiment of many Grimm all working as a single entity known as Pestilence, while another however…"

Ozpin turned to the group, giving them a hard look before speaking, "if their existence was not enough of a shock, the beast I speak of now is even beyond them, for it was the very first Grimm Champion that the God of Destruction ever created, and was given a great many gifts by the God of Destruction, with its greatest gift being Sentience and the ability to speak a discernable language, allowing it to commune with humanity, and unlike the Grimm or even the other champions, this Champion would usually choose not to attack but rather converse with those it met and even pass on knowledge and sometimes even aid to those who met it, thus earning it the title of the only 'friendly grimm' in all of the world …"

"… it was a mighty serpent, massive in size, its body covered in scales of the brightest white or the deepest black, and it's voice that echoed through the mountains and to the depths of one's soul, but to many it was simply stated to be King Taijitu grown to a size greater than the mountains themselves, and its name was …"

The video then played as the scene came up.

* * *

**The Umbral legion had begun to retreat, their legions being cut down like wheat by the attacking Champions and had all begun to run toward the entrance to the mountain pass where they had entered.**

**Then the earth beneath them began to shudder with an almighty tremor, as the retreating legions were knocked to the ground by the quakes, and the Grimm Champions then stooped attacking, instead perching themselves close together on or near the shattered walls of the Citadel as they gazed at the arrival of a new Champion.**

**The first of their number, the strongest of their kind, and barring their true creator, the God of Destruction himself, their de facto, 'Master'.**

"**-_-_-_-"**

**The words spoken were incomprehensible to all but those who learned to understand, but to those who heard the words being spoken, they could only feel terror and fear at the arrival of the greatest monster their world would ever know short of the Gods themselves.**

"**It's the World Serpent, IT'S JORMUNGANDR!"**

**The screams of terror from the Umbral Legions continued as the legions began to just break and run in every other direction, their numbers rapidly falling as the once mighty army fled into the mountains or forests, soon completely dispersing as they fled for their lives.**

**The entire battlefield was soon rendered empty, with the plain now empty and silent, the Grimm Champions simply stood where they were as the immense form of Jormungandr loomed over the remains of the battle.**

"**-_-_-_-_-_-"**

**Jormungandr spoke in its unknown language, and at its words, the Grimm Champions began to disperse in separate directions, leaving the battlefield as the remaining Acalans could only look on in shock at the fact that there lives had been saved by the 'enemies of all life', though some only looked on with impassiveness, as they were aware of the truth surrounding the 'Grimm' Champions.**

**However, Echidna stopped before taking off, turning back to the remains of the fortress as it stared at the remains of the Citadel, before suddenly flying into the citadel and landing on one specific spot …**

… **the crater where Aria Enel had killed the Umbral Royals.**

* * *

The group looked on at Echidna, having been shocked by the arrival of Jormungandr, seeing that nothing that they knew of on all of Remnant could even scratch, forget kill such a threat. Now they focused on Echidna as it flew to where Aria Enel had fallen.

"I wonder what Echidna is going to do," Ruby said nonchalantly, having been surprised and shocked enough that she did not really know what to think or feel anymore.

* * *

**Echidna flew over to where the pit from Aria had triggered the explosion, and began to dig up the ground, tearing through the earth until it finally reached what it was searching for, lowering its head and grabbing the object in its jaws.**

**The items it grabbed … were the magic blades of Aria Enel, slightly scorched but still shone in the sun.**

**Echidna then saw something else, and snorted with anger before knocking down the remains of a broken tower into the hole …**

… **burying the remains of the Umbral Royals armor and weapons under the debris.**

**Echidna then looked up to the sky, a knowing gaze as it then made its way to the citadels only intact entrance, now open to reveal a large force of Acalans on horseback in the distance, racing towards the fort at high speed …**

… **with one horse at the lead, a white and brown stallion with a single rider, a rider wearing light silver armor over a largely green attire resembling almost a scholars attire, had a largely tanned complexion with light brown skin, drown hair, an face and physique of a young warrior, but his was which was the standard of a handsome young man was currently twisted in a look of worry and anger as he raced to the fortress.**

**Echidna only made its way back into the fortress, setting Aria's swords down along the path to the citadel center and then proceeded to take flight, following the other 'Grimm Champions' into the horizon.**

* * *

"Huh, I … really don't know what to say, like at all," Yang stated, having a difficult time getting to grips with what she was seeing, still not able to wrap her head around a Grimm actually doing something so, so …?

"That's … pretty … deep? … meaningful?" Nora only had more difficulty thinking about why a monster that could only destroy would do something that seemed so … emotional.

The others were also talking amongst one another, also wondering why a creature of Grimm would want to save the last vestiges of a fallen warrior … all the while Ozpin was silent as he watched, appearing to reminisce about times long past.

The scene played on as the group noticed and returned to their seats.

* * *

**Echidna watched from afar as the former pupil of the human champion that had faced and defeated it in battle all those years ago found the blades that it had placed in front of the gate, and then both felt and saw the despair as it saw the man fall to his knees, seeing the proof of his masters death, as well as several Acalan warriors that appeared, telling the human man what had happened, the man holding the swords close as he had wept, before standing tall and beginning to tell the Acalan's he arrived with to look for survivors and to recover the dead, while he would go make sure that the Umbral legions were truly gone.**

**Echidna heard all of this from afar before taking off into the sky, leaving for other parts.**

**All while lamenting the death of one of the few humans that not only bested it, but treated it differently from how other humans had, for the human female warrior, Aria Enel had actually saw Echidna and the other Apostles for what they were and not what they appeared to be.**

**This made Echidna experience a feeling of sadness at the death of Aria Enel, though Echidna also understood that Aria would, like any human, succumb to age and die. To Echidna, it at least felt a calm gratitude to whatever force governed the destiny of all things that the human champion had died doing what she had wanted in the way she had wanted to meet her end …**

… **as a great warrior, fighting to the end for the sake of others.**

**It felt pride at the one human that it would see for the rest of its existence as its one true equal.**

* * *

The feelings that the group gained from what they saw, left them feeling more and more conflicted with what they perceived was just another Grimm, even Qrow was left feeling that he could relate to the Gr-Apostle.

"Haah, guess even monsters have their own baggage to deal with," Qrow commented, taking a swig from a high-quality scotch that came through the system, "this is some good shit."

"Language," Ruby said in a largely subdued voice as she remained focused on the screen.

The group noticed that Ozpin had a largely wistful look on his face, appearing to be largely reminiscing about his past, and then heard him say in a near whisper …

"… why did forget her …"

The scene played, almost as a response to Ozpins whisper.

* * *

**Which was why Echidna now only felt rage as events progressed, its rage directed at what had transpired and who had caused these events to transpire.**

**It began with … HER!**

**The woman who Echidna saw was with Aria's former pupil who had begun making his own way in the world as a hero (though not on the same level as Aria), had, through her own actions, taken events and made everything beyond horrible.**

**The woman had attempted to lie to its own creator, to the Brother God of Destruction himself no less, after having gone to the God of Light, all for a vain desire to bring Aria's pupil back to life.**

**While Echidna could understand a desire to be with the one person that meant anything or everything to themselves, as it had thought of Aria many times as it fought many a so called 'Great Hero', Echidna knew that forcing those who passed back to life with no greater purpose but twisted longing.**

**What further infuriated Echidna was what was done to the woman after the lie the exposed, for instead of ending her life and sending her soul to the beyond as had been done to many, the God of Light instead decided that the best punishment for a woman wishing to be together with the person they desired …**

… **was to make it so she could never die, with the punishment being that she could now no longer go to the great beyond with Aria's pupil (though Echidna knew that the woman would not be going to the same place that Aria's pupil would). Even Echidna, who also possessed a practically undying body, at least had the option of an end, but the God of light had, in Echidna's unbiased opinion had given the woman a truly undying body with the end to her life left so vague that it may as well not even exist.**

**Echidna knew that things would only get worst though it could never have foreseen the events that transpired next …**

… **nor would it have foreseen that it would have gained such a powerful fury for its own creator.**

**The woman had used her 'curse' to perpetuate a lie through no less than a dozen kingdoms, managing to persuade countless warriors to her side, all under the belief that her skill in manipulation was the main factor in her success and not the fact that pretty much all the kingdoms she manipulated were ruled either by power-mad idiots or battle-hungry tyrants, not to mention that the kingdoms were all the smallest in the land, not one major kingdom was part of the woman's mad scheme. Echidna was left questioning why the gods had not decided to make known the fact of the woman's curse, which would have made her attempts beyond impossible, but instead chose silence.**

**This led to the act that would cause not only Echidna, but basically all the Apostles to feel anger at their creator.**

**The end of the world …**

**In an instant, all that the apostles had done, the world they had known all their existence, and legacy of the warriors that they had recognized and were venerated the world over …**

… **was gone, all gone.**

**The God of Destruction, had taken it all away, had instead decided that the only response to the threat of a single 'cursed' woman, was to destroy everything, even those who had NOTHING, to do with the that BITCHES scheme.**

**Then, as if to spite the Apostles themselves, the God of Destruction released a command, having the Apostles go into an eternal sleep, until the day that the gods returned to the world to judge it, not even letting the apostles have a say in such matters, with the apostles feeling fury at what was being done to them.**

**Yet they could do nothing as they were made to go deep underground and worst was that their minds were made to be unthinking once again, as the God of Destruction had decided that he did not want the possibility of his creations going against his decisions, not even if it was the truly correct thing to do.**

**Echidna felt as it was sealed underground the minds of the other Apostles become blank as it felt the feeling of its mind returning to an unthinking state take hold, and it could only curse feebly as the emptiness began to make its way into its thoughts, and Echidna was resigned to the fate of becoming an empty headed monster like the lesser creations of the god, and only gazed into the sky one last time as its prison of dark crystal began to absorb it …**

… **then a flash of light, and the feeling of something entering its body as the emptiness was torn apart and erased from its mind, and Echidna soon found that it could think for itself once again …**

… **no, Echidna felt its thoughts become sharper, its mind became clearer as the energy of the God of Destruction began to recede, and it felt its own thoughts become more … complex, more clear as the underlying desire for destruction lessened.**

**Echidna had wondered what had caused it to suddenly gain both its freedom of thought and newfound intelligence, and it found it.**

**It took the basic design of a diamond, two four-sided, elongated pyramids connected by their base, and the diamond was made of a surface that seemed to reflect the night sky, only with greater clarity than what Echidna had seen. Not only that, but it could feel that the diamond was releasing energy within Echidna, changing it, altering it in a deep and profound way that caused Echidna's being to become something else.**

**Something … more, much more than what its creator had wanted it to be.**

**Echidna embraced this change, it took in this new energy and would use it for whatever would come, but for not it remained trapped, unable to do anything as the prison of black crystal completely encapsulated its form, leaving it trapped and unable to do anything …**

… **for now.**

'**I … w-will, ge-ge-get out, and I …. W-w-will … find it'**

'**Find …'**

'… **the rea-son …'**

'… **I … was … given …'**

'…'

**ENLIGHTMENT**

**Echidna would be free; it would get out.**

**For now, however, it focused on the gift it had gained, and began to develop its newfound will and mind as the decades it spent imprisoned passed.**

**So when it came time for it to be free …**

… **it would be ready.**

* * *

The scene began to transition as the group were left …

… 'shocked' was the best way to describe it.

"Uh, uhm, whaaaa, haaa," Ruby was at the end of her mental limit as she took in everything that had transpired, and appeared to be on the brink of falling over, while the rest of the group were also left confused until Ozpin spoke up.

"To put what we saw in simpler terms, it appears that Echidna continued to wander Remnant and saw the 'incident' started by Salem back when she was human, was quite understandably angered by her actions and what they resulted in, as well as angered by the Gods due to how they punished Salem and their response to her attempt at rebelling against them. Then later, when the gods decided to leave Remnant, the God of Destruction decided to turn the apostles into unthinking beasts that would only follow the commands of the gods, but for Echidna, the same unknown artifact that mister Arc experienced in his youth also came into contact with Echidna, saving it from that fate, and allowing Echidna to begin formulating a plan to escape its current confinement, which I personally believe it will succeed in."

The group were so dumbstruck that they found no real words to retort, except Qrow.

"Oz, I am going to be dead honest, you scare me, you scare me in ways I think only my sister and Summer have, and it honestly makes me wish that really did learn to sleep with my eyes open at night," Qrow stated in a tone far to serious that it honestly left the group further stunned.

"Th-the scene is playing again," Ironwood interrupted.

* * *

**The image of the three lines forming the trinity appeared once more, showing that the 'starlit night' was now linked to opposite lines, though it was only in the dark silver line that the energy was active and radiant, while in the darkened gold line, the energy was inert and weakly shining.**

**Then then the source of the two lines, the clear and cleanly cut 'galactic' line began to release a greater amount of light from its surface as the scene began to focus entirely on the shining line, focusing on it until the light had become radiant.**

* * *

"Aaaagghhhh, it's so bright," Yang stated as she shielded her eyes as the screen was now completely releasing a radiant white light that now flooded the whole room in light.

"MY EYE'S, THEIR BURNING," Blake screamed, her faunas traits, even reduced by whatever was happening in the facility, had still made her feline-traits a terrible drawback now.

"It's so bright," Ruby yelled, covering her head with her hood, the light still getting in.

The rest were also covering their eyes, the radiant light shining through the room, rendering many near blinded by the light.

Then the light started to abate as the scene played out, and the viewers could start to see again.

* * *

**The light then began to abate slightly as the screen panned away from the light, now bringi****ng into focus a rippling surface …**

… **of a star.**

**The surface of the star was a molten white material that seemed to move a slow rate on the surface of the star, with only slight bursts of molten material coming from the stars surface.**

**The star itself was a white dwarf star, the result of a main sequence stars collapse, or basically the result of a star eventually dying and leaving only its degenerating core behind, instead of either blowing up and dispersing into nothing, or just collapsing in on itself and forming a singularity called a black hole.**

**However, the star was not the focus, but something the was moving near to the star, a small moving spot that grazed the very edge of the stars 'atmosphere', close enough to let the rays of the star run over the object but not close enough to be vaporized by the stars heat.**

**The object soon came into view.**

**What it was became obvious on closer observation.**

* * *

The group became transfixed on the object as it became clearer.

"Is that a …"

"No way …"

"It's a …"

* * *

**A ship …**

**A ****spaceship****.**

**The craft was small at a distance, but up close it was roughly half the size of an Atlesian air-cruiser, but also many times more advanced than the ship in question. The hull was a relatively simple design, resembling an elongated tetrahedron at the front while the back was roughly like a slightly longer box or a small rectangle in shape, but in regard to the overall design, it was quite exotic, the its paint scheme was a dull grey for the outer armor and a deep black for the area beneath the armor. The main armor that made up the hull was separated by a seam that ran along the rim of the ship, with the seam having several hexagonal plates at certain points of the rim, with the armor on top of the ship following a basic angular structure that would be seen on craft of utilitarian make, but the armor beneath had some more rounded features, with the main feature being a pattern located at the back, just before what was obviously the ships engines, five ports at the back of the ship emitting light and energy that pushed the ship along. Going back to the pattern, it mainly consisted of five circles that were arrayed with one another, the smallest at the center and the largest surrounding the others, with small lines coming out of the circles at certain points to the other circles.**

**It was what came from the circles that were of true note, for the circles emitted particles of light, appearing like a 'shining darkness' with small motes of light mixed in, appearing almost like the radiant void that was around the star and ship. In front of the ship was a long protrusion, similar to a wing on an aircraft or the fin of a ship, the protrusion appearing tetrahedral in shape, about as thick as the ships surface armor and it was glowing along its edge, with blocky portion on the back of the protrusion, the blocky area being several openings leading five rectangular devices lined up along the back of the protrusion, and the openings glowed white as the radiant light of the star went over the ship's hull, the light being absorbed into the openings and gathering in the rectangular devices, before the energy was processed by the devices and sent into the ship.**

**The device was a sort of refueling system that took in the energy of a star and converted it into fuel for the ship to use. The ship was refueling itself using the stars light as there were no other areas nearby for the ship to either refuel or restock itself.**

**Such was the need for such devices for those willing to venture out into the void, away from any civilization or means of contact.**

**Such was the fate of those who ventured into the emptiness of space.**

* * *

"Spaceship …. Spaceship … spaceship … spaceship," Nora muttered as she gazed at the screen.

All the Remnetians were transfixed at their first look at not only outer space, but their first look at a real spacecraft. Teams RWBY and NPR were transfixed by the sight. Ozpin was noting what such a thing would mean for that reality and if it existed on that Remnant, then what about their Remnant as well. Glynda had her own private thoughts about the existence of life outside of Remnant, while Qrow had a scowl on his face as he knew he had lost an old bet he had made. Ironwood remained mostly silent, but made internal notes to try and push for further research into space travel, Winter also noting that such a thing being true would change so much on Remnant.

The scene continued.

* * *

**The view soon shifted to the space in the edges of the ship, with several large reflective panels shown at certain points of the ships edge.**

**The view moved straight at the panel, and passed through …**

… **revealing the inside of the craft.**

**The view within revealed the ship to have relatively small spaces, and the hull itself was itself unusual, showing the pathways to be uneven, the floors, walls and ceiling of the pathways all appearing similar, the pathway appearing to be a circular opening with an uneven surface that appeared similar to mountainous or rocky terrain, though padded and appeared to be a soft aquamarine color through the whole ship. The scene shifted to one of the rooms, revealing a larger space, the room having several objects within that were at the edges of the room with the floor and ceiling as uneven as the halls but the walls being smooth and curved, two being rounded pillars that were both sky blue with a polished surface, two rectangular pillars located next to the entry ways to the rooms, and at the center was a raised platform that was circular in shape and took up a fourth of the space in the room.**

**Then from the other entryway, appearing with all suddenness was the ships sole inhabitant.**

**The entity stepped through into the light of the room, the shadow of the hall it entered from obscured it form, but now in the well-lit room the entity appeared, revealing …**

* * *

"ALIEN , ITS AN ALIEN, A REAL LIFE ALIEN," Nora screamed out as the obviously non-human or humanoid entity appeared on the screen, the remnant people left in utter shock at their first look at intelligent life outside of their world, and the impact was just that intense.

Well, for most, some others managed to get their wits back quicker.

"Hmm, kinda looks like a manta ray, a crab, and a squid got together and managed to make the right mix of everything, honestly though it really is tough to guess what is what with that thing," Qrow stated, taking a swig of some whiskey he had brought up while giving a very rough description of the aliens physical characteristics, "gotta say though, I was expecting something, well, uglier, nothing against aliens its just how all alien films made them out to be, this thing just looks strange, not ugly just strange."

"Qrow, are you not even remotely disturbed by the fact that alien life actually exists outside of our world, and all you can say is that it looks like a mix of sea animals and not what it could be doing or the threat such a creature could pose, either by itself or its technology," Winter said, the mentality of an Atlesian specialist on full display.

"I also have to agree with Specialist Schnee, though we may not be in Atlesian authority as of now, but at the same time such a fact becoming known could cause enough of a shock on Remnant that it would lead to many Grimm incursions, which is not saying much when compared to everything that we have already learned," Ironwood said, sparing a glance at Ozpin, who was currently in thought at the sight of the alien.

'Is it possible that life outside of Remnant could either be our salvation, or could it only lead to further hardship … or worse.'

The scene continued.

* * *

**The alien entity moved on six long, insectoid looking limbs, the six limbs it used to move around were positioned at certain points on its body, the first pair being near the midsection of the entity, the second and smallest pair located lower, closer to the abdomen, and the final pair were on its lower middle back, and had three joints which gave the legs a rather sizeable level of articulation. The creatures whole body was distinctly aquatic in appearance, with the skin appearing to be similar to that of (as Qrow stated) a manta ray, though the color was a mix of dark grays and deep blacks, and the body had four sets of fins similar to a rays, the first pair near the sides of its head, and the other near the lower torso, and it also had several smaller tendrils that were on its front and portions of its back, though most of the tendrils were pressed against its skin giving it a strange pattern on parts of its body. The head itself was, well strange to those not f its own race, the creature had six eyes, the first four were just slits that had a bioluminescent glow that were located at the front of the face almost like human eyes, though obviously not the same, the face itself being roughly angled, though smoothed as per its aquatic qualities, and its final pair were round orbs that were located near the back of the head just above the fins on the head, the front for eyes were cyan with just a thin slit that showed the pupil that had a thin amount of patterns that were difficult to discern as the eyes gave of their glow, though not strongly and the glow abated to reveal a rounded diamond pattern at the center of the eye with small woven patterns stretching out from the pupil, while the final pair had just a small glowing spot at the center of the eye that released an almost aetheric light. The mouth of the creature was two mandibles in the area where the cheeks were that met with the upper and lower jaw in such a seamless manner that when closed the mouth was almost not visible but the thin outline that showed it was there, the being had no nostrils on its face, but had two thin opening above its mouth and beneath the eyes that were between the front of its face and the sides of its head, only being thin openings that were barely visible. The being finally had four limbs that were essentially its arms, the limbs were tentacles that were almost the length of a standard humans arm if not a few inches longer, and the tentacles were smooth all along their length except near the ends were many smaller tendrils came from the end where the skin was at its thickest, the tentacles beginning at gray near the torso and becoming black at the ends of the tentacles. The entity also wore clothing, though markedly different from human or faunas attire, as the material was far more versatile and form fitting than most forms of attire, with the suit going over the torso, legs and back, but fitting everything so well that the tendrils on the torso were not hampered at all, the clothing being a light grey material that appeared almost like cloth but had an almost metallic sheen to it, and through the suit pulsed patterns of light, similar to the light in the upper eyes of the entity.**

**The entity then began to move into the room, and one of its arms waved over the main platform …**

**The platform them lit up with the same light energy as what was seen outside of the ship near the bottom, the 'radiant void' that shown on the structure beneath the ship soon went into the objects in the room, and the structure in the center of the room then rippled, and from it came a sphere of light that rose above the platform, and then the light blossomed out, becoming a display of the sun the ship was orbiting, as well as showing the ship itself in full detail, and expanding to reveal the planets in the star system, with all the planets located far from the star, and all were lifeless rock worlds while only one was a gas giant with white blue clouds making up its surface. **

**The entity moved its hand over the map, shifting the map with the motions of the small tendrils at the ends of its arms, expanding and shifting the map, and on the map were several spots that had the 'radiant void' that were focused on but a few spots on the utterly massive map, showing countless star systems on the map, but then shrinking as the entity focused the map onto the spot where the 'radiant void' was concentrated, and zoomed in further until the star system that was at the center of the concentration became clear and a single world was focused on.**

**The world at first appeared to be dead, appearing only as an empty rock with a single moon orbiting the planet.**

**Then the entity went over to another of the structures in the room, and a swift motion and quick moving of tendrils on a holographic pad on the structure caused it to open, the activated device being one of the rectangular pillars, now opened to reveal a shifting rectangular structure within, the structure itself being made of dozens of small triangular pieces that were not directly connected with one another, but all space evenly with one another, held in place by the energy field of the device. Three of the triangles separated from the construct, the entity guiding them through a holographic interface that now surrounded it, guiding the triangles to the planet being displayed. The triangles hovered around the planet before coming together at one point over the planet being displayed, just outside of the moons orbit, and then came together at one point, and then began to radiate the light of the 'radiant void' and then slowly, the triangles spread apart …**

… **and pulled apart the invisible barrier that had covered the planet, revealing not a barren rock, but revealed the world of Remnant, the landmasses in full view, and the shattered moon in its orbit.**

* * *

"What is that strange power, this 'radiant void'," Ozpin was left wondering at the implication of the unknown power that the alien made use of.

"So, it knows where Remnant is now … great," Yang stated sarcastically.

* * *

**The alien entity then began to focus on the planet, the view closing in on two points of the world.**

**The first showed Beacon …**

* * *

"I hope it isn't as bad as the last one," Ruby hoped, the others also agreeing.

"What happened in the last viewing," Qrow questioned.

"Bad things Uncle Qrow, bad things … that all happened to Jaune," Ruby said, the her team and NPR nodding.

* * *

**It found the first source of the 'radiant voids' presence on the planet, the source being from a male of the planets primary races, known as a human of humanity, it witnessed the individual as they were in an institution of learning that was made to teach individuals to be warriors.**

**It did not like what it witnessed.**

**The 'radiant void' within the human was being suppressed by the individuals own emotional state, the light being buried in darkness as the individual was being emotionally and physically compromised and suppressed by those around himself. The individuals being of a higher standing than himself made his life as difficult as they could for him, and it was not even them alone, but others of a similar age group to his own that kept visiting grief onto the human male, treating him as though he had done a terrible act worthy of scorn, yet when it used its systems to view the act in question, it only witnessed an act that is so minute that only individuals with severely skewed moral views would take issue with such things, and it got a view of those who made the most direct forms of suppressing the human male.**

**It found that the main culprits mainly consisted of eight individuals, seven females and one male, one of the females was one of the educators of the education facility, yet was now going out of her way to impede any attempts by the holder of the 'radiant void' from reaching their goal.**

**If nothing were done, the continuous suppression of the human males … Jaune Arc's progress, would soon amount to nothing and his path would end long before it could ever begin.**

* * *

"Glynda …"

"Ye-yes, Ozpin."

"I can at least partially understand teams RWBY and part of team JNPR due to how they are still only just children entering the world and learning about how to begin tolerating the actions of others and gaining the mindset of actual moral responsibility … yet why is it that you yourself, a fully graduated and realized huntress, taking part in such activities."

The group were all looking at Glynda as she seemed to be nervous at his questioning, but the screen continued to continue, so Ozpin then said, "we will discuss this later,' and the group saw the screen continue.

* * *

**The entity then focused on another source, and found the source …**

… **located deep under the surface of the planet, inside of a constructed object, being a crystal of dark purple material, kept solidified by a weaving energy field continuously fluctuating in a multi-phase wavelength that changed at a rapid pace to prevent the structure of the crystal from being compromised.**

**The entity saw that the source was trapped within the crystal and knew then what to do.**

**The entity made its way out of the room, moving through the halls on its six legs, before arriving on a large room at the bottom of the ship, just above the light rings at the bottom of the ship behind the re-fueling system. The room it entered had one large object, a large diamond-shaped construct resonating with the 'radiant void' as three rings of energy surrounded the diamond, holding it in place. The entity approached the diamond, and placed its four arms before itself, focusing on the diamond, and the diamond began to ripple with energy as it flowed into the alien entity as its body began to light up with the 'radiant void', and then after a time, the energy was focused out of the diamond to the bottom of the ship, and into the light rings at the bottom.**

**The rings below the shape lit up, and several rings of 'radiant void' emerged, all lining up as a single focused concentration of 'radiant void' began to compound itself into a single shape, the form of a diamond with motes orbiting around its surface, and soon positioned itself at the first ring.**

**The rings thrummed with energy as they charged, focusing on a single point as the rings coalesced into a single focused tube of 'radiant void', and then …**

… **the light pulsed outward creating a wave of light that pulsed out into the star system as the diamond of 'radiant void' fired soundlessly into the cosmos, soon reaching speeds that easily surpassed even the speed of light itself as it traveled to its target …**

… **to Remnant, primarily to the second source of 'radiant void'.**

**The goal was simple though with a dangerous air to it.**

**The construct of 'radiant void' would liberate the second source of 'radiant void' on the world of Remnant, and would pass on the request to liberate the first source of 'radiant void' from its predicament, though the danger was that the liberation of the first source …**

… **would be entirely at the discretion of the second source.**

* * *

The silence was so intense among the group, though the feeling of fear was also quite palpable in the room, as the meaning of what was shown and stated began to really sink into the viewers.

The thought of Echidna … going to Beacon … to rescue Jaune …

… from them.

The meaning of what that rescue would entail for them was … quite honestly …

"Terrifying beyond any rational thought," Ozpin quoted, already aware of how badly such an event would turn out.

"Suddenly, I have the urge to go back to Atlas," Wiess stated with nervousness in her voice.

"Yeah, and maybe I should maybe return to Menagerie much sooner rather than later," the sheer nervousness in Blakes voice was any wonder she was not on the verge of a breakdown.

"I just hope we don't do anything so bad that Echidna needs to do anything really bad," Ruby was so nervous about what would happen that she struggled to sound assured with herself.

The scene played … what happened next filled them with further worry.

* * *

**In the ship, the alien entity was draped on the edge of a small cube on the floor of the chamber with the diamond, then it turned to look at the diamond, seeing it gently glow and a single pulse came out that gave assurance to the alien entity …**

… **it had made the only correct decision regarding the circumstances.**

**The alien entity looked up at the construct, still tired, but thankful for its assurance.**

**Then the construct began to darken, and the white motes soon took on a reddish hue, this caused the alien to adopt a worried expression on its own face, its eyes widening and the radiant light that slowly echoed through its form darkening as well. Then the ships lights all took on red and purple hues as a blaring noise echoed through the large ship, a warning that something dangerous had begun.**

**The alien entity knew what had brought such a danger, its actions having been a beacon bringing whatever danger lurked in the cosmos, and the entity knew that the danger that approached …**

… **was one it was all too familiar with.**

**The alien raced through the hull of the ship, heading through several rooms, each with different constructs, devices and even a few rooms filled with many cube-like containers. The alien continued until it reached what was basically the ships main control area, or its cockpit, which as a single room with a thin stretch of the clear material that allowed it to look out into space, and a sphere with a curved protrusion in the center of the room, the alien soon moving to the sphere, which lit up with light and energy as the being soon activated the sphere, its tentacles using small spheres on the larger spheres as the main interface, and the glass-like metal was soon covered over by several panels of stronger metal, with all the thinner parts of the hull soon reinforced with metal panels.**

**Then the cockpit lit up, and the view soon changed to a clear starry sky all around the cockpit, showing everything around the ship itself, from the large star, to the planets …**

… **and even the warping area near the ship where space seemed to be stretched and pulled.**

**The cause of the warping soon became clear as the warping soon opened into an opaque sphere of warped space …**

… **and out of the sphere, appeared another alien craft, one that was vastly different from the ship the alien entity had.**

**The new ship was largely pitch black with dark purple hues, and at a view appeared to be less like a ship, and more of the skeleton of a ship. The dark ship had few metal panels, and though double of the size of the alien entities ship, appeared to be far to open in far to many parts, with the design being mostly jagged metal sections and components that could only support a crew if said crew were small enough to fit in a persons hand. **

**It's design was based on the fact that no crew would operate the giant skeletal ship, as the ship soon lit up, its sensor systems and multi-spectrum search systems locking onto the alien entities own ship, and in several areas of the unknown ship opened multiple ports each revealing a weapon turret, the weapons being a to prongs that lengthened to a point that came out of a sharply angled turret, the prongs soon charging with energy as the now obviously hostile ship made ready to fire.**

* * *

"OOHHH, SPACE BATTLE!"

Nora shouted in excitement, though deep down she felt that she should be worried about the unknown ship, though was not sure why, but felt she should be.

Nora was not alone with this feeling, as everyone in the room, felt that they should also be very worried about the unknown alien craft as well.

* * *

**The alien entity viewed the actions of the opposing ship, preparing the systems on its own ship …**

… **then it witnessed the brief flashes of light in the distance, and the long-range view of the enemy ship showed its weapons firing.**

**The scene changed to the unknown alien ship, and all the weapons thrummed briefly with energy, before a muted blast was only briefly heard as the weapons of the unknown ship fired, with the ship having seven large scale weapons for long range attack, all of which fired, even those on the other side of the ship fired, though at an angle.**

**It seemed that only four of the seven shots were aimed to hit the alien beings ship, and that would be if the shots were simple kinetic rounds.**

**The shots were revealed to be rounded bullet shaped projectiles, all of which had two rotating sections that made up the base of the projectile, which was flying easily at several hundreds of kilometers a second at the alien entities ship. Then the rotating sections on the projectiles began to rotate at an incredible speed, and from the base of the projectiles came a blaze of energy, which not only pushed the projectiles, but also began to alter their trajectory …**

… **all aimed at the alien entities ship.**

**The projectiles were target seeking weapons, and due to their nature, it was possible for a whole volley to be fired at a single target regardless of where the target was.**

**The alien entity then began not only to counterattack, but to prepare countermeasures.**

**The aliens entities own ship only possessed five turrets fitted with large scale weapons, the weapons appearing to have a look similar to, and at the most elementary level were railguns, and all of them fired back, the projectiles fired to intercept the enemy ship, all the while, several smaller ports opened up on the top and bottom of the entities ship. The projectiles of the two ships shot past one another, and the shots from the unknown ship were going to strike first.**

**Then the entities ship released several small devices from the open ports, each device appearing oval in form, each propelled by a small propulsion system, which was a scaled down version of the engines on the entities own ship. The ovals then began to release a glow that was aimed at the projectiles, and the incoming projectiles then began to track the pods instead of the entities ship, and five of the seven projectiles hit the pods, all detonating in a burst of light and energy, the blasts looking large enough to completely blot out the view between the two ship, but two projectiles were still incoming, but then from a smaller port appeared a mid-range weapon, the weapon being a muti-barrel weapon, the barrels all glowing along their shafts and linked together by a solid metal ring at two points on their length, with the turret having a more curved form with few sharp angles, and the weapon fired, sending shots flying at hyper accelerated speeds, almost like scaled down railgun shots, though for a far more devastating weapon. It intercepted the sixth projectile, causing it to explode in space, but the final one avoided the defensive fire and struck the ship …**

… **and the blast deflected off of the shield that covered the whole ship, the barrier curving over the ships entire frame, the color being a mix of violet and light blue as the shield defended against the enemy attack, though it slightly wavered from the attack, but still held.**

**It was then that the projectiles from the alien entities own ship made impact with the enemies vessel, though in a way that revealed the true nature of the enemy. From the unknown ships hull, multiple small weapons, some similar to the multi-barrel weapons of the alien entities own ship, while others were in fact energy-based weapons with barrels that began to focus energy aimed at the projectiles. Then the projectiles exploded at almost a hundred kilometers from the unknown ship, and form the blasts came forming rings of energy, which had begun to disperse as they continued. Yet the attacks managed to hit the enemy ship, and the enemy ship then began to violently spark and flare as its own shield had began to short itself it, and the lights on its surface began to violently flicker as the ship seemed to power down, the whole of the craft going silent as it began to drift listless in space.**

**The Unknown ship was completely unmanned, with the only thing operating the ship being the autonomous systems that controlled the craft, a system that was now struggling to restore the ship to working order.**

**The ship itself was essentially a drone ship, and the drone ship was now a sitting duck.**

**It was then that through the haze of energy from the explosion of the enemy ships weapons, a single large projectile shot through the haze, revealing the projectile to be a relatively large missile, no, a ****torpedo****, the weapon being pushed by a high capacity propulsion unit that shot the attack at the drone ship.**

**The drone ship hardly had its sensor systems working before it registered the enemy torpedo …**

… **but it was already too late.**

**The torpedo struck the ship in the rear where its armor was the thickest, and the torpedo exploded, releasing a massive blast of energy that ripped through the armor and deep into the hull. A thundering blast muted by the void of space blossomed out as the entire rear of the drone ship and its main autonomous system was destroyed, leaving the front of the ship to drift off into space.**

**The battle was brief, but the amount of destruction that was shown was sizeable.**

**In the end, the alien entity had come out victorious, and the enemy ship was now left a floating wreck in space.**

* * *

The battle had passed, and the group were left with quite an … eye-opening first look into conflict in space.

"Huh, that's not usually how the movies show a space fight," Yang said offhandedly.

"That's probably because movies are more focused around being flashy, and entertaining, with little thought put into realism and more into just looking good, unlike in real life where actual events are most certainly not as flashy and are most certainly not for entertainment," Ironwood spoke up, "please keep in mind that real life does not work the same as in movies."

"Does that take into account how our own reality is essentially based on a cartoon," Qrow pointed out, deflating the General and earning a pointed glare from Winter.

* * *

**The alien entity checked the display of all the ships systems, and then began to get the ship ready to go, having been in the middle of re-fueling during the battle, though luckily nothing had been damaged and the refueling system was retracted into the ship, the fin folding up into the hull.**

**The alien then began to get the ship ready to head toward the planet, hopefully quick enough to aid the two sources of 'radiant void' in what was to come.**

**Then the same alarm as before blared through the ship, and the entity gazed into space.**

**It witnessed the warping effect that had happened when the drone ship had arrived, except now there were many signatures, and many that were detected were from vessels that were many times larger than what the alien had just faced.**

**It did not need to wonder what was coming for long, as space warped a long distance from the ship, and eleven of the same spheres opened in space, with five similar in size to what the first ship exited from, three larger than the first five, two larger than the three, and one that was far larger than all the other sphere combined.**

**Then the ships emerged, well ten ships, with five being the of similar design to the first ship but having certain differences like more armor, or an extra turret and slightly altered design, three ships that were almost double the size of the first five, and likely with far more armor and weapons than the first ships, and then two ships that both appeared to have an opposing design, with one being more offensive in design while the other was more defensive.**

**The ships were all essentially made to be entirely mechanized and utilitarian in design, with the ships being largely made up of many long metal panels over a metal frame that seemed to be quite thin, and all were mostly a blocky main section where the engines and energy source were and large panels of thick armor covering the internal sections and the fronts of the ships ending at a point, the front section resembling a tetrahedron with many open portions showing bunched up blocks of the mechanized hull of the ships beneath the panels, as well as many sections for weapons or other devices. The reason for the need to clarify this point was to point out the very blatant difference from the small fleet of ships and what had through with them.**

**The last object was most certainly not a ship, or really looked like one. The object was utterly gigantic, and mainly appeared to be two large blocky structures parallel to one another, and both had long structures that extended from the large blocky structures on four sides, two on each block, both on opposite sides of the block, and the structures were completely parallel with one another, the long structures had many smaller black structures running along their length, and the two blocks were themselves connected by two thick connecting sections that linked the blocks together, and were incredible large, with a space that ran along the center that was large enough for all of the smaller ships to easily fit inside, with the space being open at both ends.**

**The alien entity knew instantly what the final massive construct was …**

… **and it needed to go, IMMEDIATELY!**

* * *

"Holy crap what the hell is that thing," Yang's coarse language having garnered no response, as Ruby was in the middle of focusing on the screen and looking like she was going through … something, and thus paid Yang no mind while the others were left stunned at the scene.

"Judging by how that thing is made, the open area that can allow craft entry, and with what I can see of some of the devices within the space, I believe that what we are seeing is what I can only guess is some type of shipyard, a mobile shipyard if that needs to be made clear since it came with those ships."

"General, how bad would it be if that force were to reach Remnant," Winter stated, wondering how much of a threat such a force could present.

"Just by what I have seen, and the fact that we have not yet seen how it works, I could place its threat to being either equal to Salem herself …"

"… or a calamity that equals the gods themselves, both of them," Ironwoods words left everyone feeling a particularly strong chill running down their spines.

* * *

**The entity had the engine activate at its highest power level, and then set about imputing commands to the main operating system, and luckily it was far enough away from the enemy fleet that it would be long gone by the time the mechanized fleet could really move to intercept it. However, a problem had then arisen, as the ship then showed that an energy signature had come up from much closer, and the alien witnessed the front section of the mechanized ship it had destroyed suddenly spring to life as lights on the remains of the front section came only, and then the front section came apart, revealing three smaller craft, two that were shaped like arrows with four sloped wings and two long weapons built into the main hull of the ships that were parallel to one another and on either side of the crafts center, and final was a larger craft that appeared to be an upscaled version of the first two, but with six wings and on top of the cannons it also had a single larger cannon that was basically a down-scaled version of the large scale weapons used by the mechanized ship.**

**This was an issue that the alien entity had to deal with quickly as its ship began to pick up speed but was being rapidly closed in on by the three ships, with the largest of the three small craft firing its large weapon, which began to impact the shield of the alien entities ship, which caused the entities ship to be delayed in leaving the battle zone as the risk of the enemy ships following them was an issue that could not be allowed to happen, and thus the main system began to calculate more data. The alien entity knew that the system was correct, but also knew that they needed to get rid of the enemy ship, but all weapons had been locked down for the ship to begin is transition.**

**One system, however, had not been locked down yet, and the alien entity knew it was the best shot for a hast retreat, and thus set the ship to be piloted by the main system while it headed down toward the ships rear section. The entity soon reached its destination, the hangar, the hangar was relatively spacious, with room that held eight small craft like small, mechanized enemies currently attacking the ship …**

… **and on craft that was a small tactical ship, the craft itself having two swept wings that were delta shaped but were cropped at a point, and was designed for atmospheric flight, an angled frame with speed put in mind, and its large frame with two propulsion units in the back and a single unit between the first two though with no vertical stabilizers but two forward mounted horizontal stabilizers, it would basically looked like an air superiority craft made much larger and equipped with a small living area equipped with several amenities. **

**The alien entity quickly entered the ship the bottom hatch and rushed through the ship into the cockpit, activating the craft, checking its weapons and systems before activating the quick launch system. It was a moment of an opening large enough for the ship exit, and the ship went through the opening and entered space, the entity having the ship turn quickly and lining up one of the small ships, opening fire with the ships high velocity guns and destroying the small ship, which caused the other small ship to break off, but the larger ship remained on the tail of the main ship and fired its weapon again.**

**The entity focused on destroying the second small ship, its craft matching the speed of the small ship, and was also able to keep the ship in front of it, and through this, destroyed the hostile craft with a burst of high velocity fire. All that left was the large craft, and the entity released a volley of fire at the craft, tearing into the side of the ship and causing it to veer away from the main ship, however it was only moderately damaged and kept going, now focusing on the entities fighter.**

**The two ships had begun to move frantically in an attempt to end the other, and the mechanized craft managed to graze the entities fighter, only for its own shield to take the hits, and the entity was already making the necessary maneuvers before lining up the enemy craft.**

**A solid stream of weapons fire tore into the enemy craft, the fire ripping through the armor until a massive blast tore the last craft apart.**

**The entity had won the fight, unfortunately, it would not make it back to the ship.**

**The entity saw that its sensors had picked up an enemy squadron of small craft that had launched from the fleet, and they were about to catch up. The entity realized that it would have to get to the world on its own ship as returning to the main ship would only lead the attacking force to the ship, so it sent the command to the main ship to head to the planet on a random trajectory.**

**A message from the main ship acknowledged this and soon the main ship began to be wreathed in energy, and the an energy vortex appeared in front of the ship, and in a flash of light the main ship was gone, having shifted through the doorway to another part of the galaxy.**

**The entity then began their own attempt to leave the system, and now chased by a force of several hundred ships, including several craft of similar or larger size compared to its own craft.**

* * *

"RUN ALIEN, RUN," Nora yelled, hoping for the alien to escape.

* * *

**The aliens craft soon came under fire from the enemy ships, fusillades of weapons fire grazed or glanced off the ship, but the alien entity had begun to pull away**

**TH-KRSCH**

**Then the alien felt as its skin was sliced and pieces of metal jabbed into its flesh, yet the hull was not breached. The alien fought down the pain from its injuries, and saw as a deep scrape was on the area behind the cockpit, and part of the display had been cut off, the shot having come from a medium sized craft equipped with a large weapon had pierced the shield enough to damage the hull, nearly breaching it, and the shield was about to completely fail.**

**The alien knew that now was no time to second guess, and it activated its own Faster Than Light (FTL) system, and managed to shoot through the gate as another hail of fire came close to destroying its ship.**

**The ship warped to another star system, now near a yellow star, but the entity had the ship jump again, now in a different star system with two yellow stars orbiting one another, then again to another star system with another yellow star.**

**It was then that the entity calmed, the pain beginning to catch up with it, and thus it made the commands needed to head to the star system and orbit the world to begin finding the two sources of the 'radiant void', as for the alien itself, it made its way to the to the living quarters and to a large device in the corner of the room, with transparent material allowing anything within to be seen.**

**The alien entered, the device closed, and a clear cyan colored liquid filled the pod, along with many small devices mounted in rings that floated around the alien as it let itself rest, while the ship entered FTL once more.**

**The ship came out into the star system and made its way toward its destination …**

… **the planet known, as Remnant.**

* * *

The viewing seemed to end, and the group were left to discuss the viewing.

"What even was all of that, Grimm Champions and Aliens, that is literally way more than what I expected," Wiess stated, having forgotten he decorum of properness, and begun to rant a bit, while her team gave her a bemused look at her actions.

"Ms. Goodwitch, I believe we need to have a talk regardi-!"

Then the screen came on, and showed …

* * *

**The mechanized fleet had finished retrieving its fighter craft, from light to heavy and then began to scout the local worlds for any valuable resources that could be used. All the while, in a room located within the mechanized mobile shipyard, a machine construct gazed over a star map, the map being purple and red in color as the machine intelligence looked over the holographic map.**

**It shifted the map until it focused on a single world, dead rock world with a single moon.**

**Then a pulse was sent that caused the planet to be enshrouded in a hue of light, registered as unknown energy by the system, and in that moment the planet briefly shifted from a dead rock surface to a planet full of life with four large landmasses with a large ocean around them, and a broken moon orbiting the world, but then flashed back to the dead world.**

**The machine turned to review the current resource gathering operation, but once the operation was done and the force was reinforced, then the ships and shipyard would head to the world for the energy that the planet seemed to have.**

**A single line of code came from the machine, one was simple and brief, but terrifying in meaning.**

**/-SITE OF HIGH YIELD ENERGY CONFIRMED, PREPERATIONS FOR ENER CONVERSION TO COMMENCE UPON RESOURCE ACQUISITION COMPLETION, INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS OF WORLD IS TO BE EXTIRPATED TO PREVENT INTERFERENCE-/**

**The machine continued observing the resource operation as the scene faded away.**

* * *

The group was left silent at what they had seen, none more so than the adults in the room, even Qrow himself was left horrified at what the machines were planning to do.

"H-hey, guys, umm, what sis it mean when it said 'extirpated', what does that mean," the others, even some the people on Rubies team and NPR also knew, but did not want to tell the poor girl what it me-!

"Extirpation, the act of completely and thoroughly eliminating an entire population of whatever is designated … no exceptions," the group then turned, seeing Mirai as she made her way into the room, "I see that the viewing has concluded, and it was quite a long one wasn't it," Mirai finished, though noting the many sour looks on the groups faces, along with Rubies horrified visage.

"She needs to learn, you all need to learn, and last time I checked, I did say what you would see would not be what would make you happy, only what ends up happening," then Mirai cleared her throat before saying, the next viewing will be in two hours, go freshen yourselves up, get something to eat, or just talk with one another …"

Mirai turned to leave but then looked back and added, "Summer Rose has been placed in this facility in a personal room, she should soon be healthy enough to be with you all, if you want to visit her," Mirai activated a holo-screen and then on the wall leading down a hallway came a hologram that had the labels of places in the building, and Summer's room was added to the list of destinations.

Mirai then left to elsewhere leaving the group to talk amongst themselves.

* * *

**Authors Note –**

**I have no excuse, this chapter took me so long to write, it is very disconcerting, but I have completed it, and hope you all will enjoy it.**

**I wish I could be more concise with when I post, but has been getting difficult as of late, but I do not intend to abandon this work, not like the others.**

**Hope you are all doing well in this epidemic, over and out.**


End file.
